Our clinicians provide compassionate, caring therapy for teens & adolescents The Bay Area Center for Adolescents is a multidisciplinary group of clinicians who provide treatment for adolescents across the San Francisco Bay Area, and is a specialty center of the Institute for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. We provide assessment, medication management, therapy, and educational counseling in order to provide our clients with the best treatment possible. Our work is guided by the latest research on adolescents and we use effective treatment interventions. Below is a list of the psychologists, psychiatrists, and educational therapists who are part of the practice.
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W. Keith Sutton, Psy.D. - Psychologist Director
Dr. Sutton is a clinical psychologist with offices located in San Francisco and Corte Madera. He provides individual and family therapy to adolescents and also provides psychological assessment. Dr. Sutton has been working with adolescents since 1998 in various settings including schools, teen shelters, a residential treatment program, a wilderness program, a drug and alcohol outpatient program, community clinics, a home-based therapy program, and in his private practice. Email: [email protected] |
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James Keim, MSW, LCSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker
James Keim, MSW, LCSW is a psychotherapist, author, and clinical supervisor who specializes in therapy for oppositional-defiant difficulties. He is co-author of one book and a contributor of chapters to eight others on topics including family therapy, child and adolescent behavior disorders, and marriage therapy. He previously served as the Director of Training for Jay Haley at the Family Therapy Institute of Washington, CD, worked at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, and directed a small conference series, including the conference Oppositional Youth, which was hosted at the Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health. Email: [email protected] |
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Davida Cohen, MFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Davida Cohen works with families, couples, children and adults and has been teaching, training and supervising for 20 years. She has worked at the Family Institute of Pinole in the positions of Director of Training, and Clinical Director. She also holds an MA in Art and works with adults and children to bring out their potential in mindfulness, creativity and relationships. Her specialties include ADHD, spirited, acting out children as well as overly constricted, anxious or depressed children. Additionally, she works with trauma and stress, adoption issues, and children and teen's behavioral difficulties. Email: [email protected] |
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Max Farber, Psy.D. - Psychologist
Dr. Max Farber is a licensed clinical psychologist who helps foster positive change in people’s lives. He listens and co-creates therapy goals. Dr. Farber’s work often involves helping people to identify and live by the values that give their lives meaning and vitality, become more aware and accepting of emotions, worry less, problem solve with more flexibility, be more resilient to stress, change emotion driven behaviors to behavior choices that are more in line with core values, and to make new and enhance existing relationships, be they personal or professional. He feels that it is a tremendous privilege to help people in this way. He is politically liberal and queer positive. email: [email protected] |
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Lianne Warren, MFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Lianne Warren, MFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist who received her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from University of San Francisco and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from University of Oregon. Her experiences as a school based therapist have provided her opportunities to work with children, families, couples, and adults. During her clinical experiences, she has addressed a wide variety of concerns, including troubled relationships, parenting, behavioral modification, anxiety, depression, loss and life transitions. Lianne’s own life experiences have provided her with an understanding that life at times can be challenging, and that having support during difficult times can be helpful. As a result, she strives to develop therapeutic relationships that are based on trust and empathy in order to assist clients to identify solutions and to make positive change in a collaborative manner. In recognition that clients enter therapy with their own unique set of experiences, strengths and goals for therapy, she utilizes an integrative approach that includes evidence based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Structural-Strategic Family Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Gottman’s Couple Therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and Mindfulness based psychotherapies. Email: [email protected] |
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Fabrizio Dellabernarda, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Fabrizio Dellabernarda is a marriage and family therapist who obtained his M.A. in Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco. He provides psychotherapy in San Francisco and online, in English and Italian. He strongly believes in the importance of looking at each person in his or her own context. He collaborates with his clients in identifying what is most important to them. He draws from his clients' strengths and offers guidance and skills to expand their repertoire of responses to align with their chosen values in the face of stressful emotions and situations. His approach and style in the therapy session comes from his life experience and the integration of multiple therapeutic orientations. He has trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Family Systems, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). He has worked at the Bay Area Community Counseling with Dr. Keith Sutton and at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto for the past 3+ years on issues such as depression, anxiety disorders (including OCD), complex trauma and PTSD, ADHD, behavioral issues with adolescents and their families, relationships problems, and problems with life transitions. He is active in the LGBTQ+ community and co-facilitates a group of aging gay men with HIV. Email: [email protected] |
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Liliana Casas Hernandez, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Liliana Casas Hernandez, Licensed Marriage family therapist considers it a great honor to be able to serve kids, children, teens and parents. For the past 17 years, she has been providing comprehensive counseling services to children and teens, parents and groups from diverse cultural backgrounds in different settings. This has included all levels of education from preschool to high school, hospital settings, non-profits, outpatient programs and victims of crime. She uses an integrative approach that includes EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Emotionally Focused Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. With children, she has used Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for preschoolers and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Liliana understands that the gift of parenting brings both tremendous joy and challenges. She strives to support parents in exploring and identifying opportunities that invite their children in experiencing the best of who they are. Liliana works collaboratively with parents in understanding their child's strengths and temperament in order to address barriers that are impacting their child's ability to maximize their potential. Liliana believes that learning is continuous throughout life; there is always the possibility of growing and overcoming challenges. Being in a family means collaborating as a team, learning from each other and discovering what each member brings to the family. Email: [email protected] |
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Karrie Stafford, Ph.D, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Karrie Stafford is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and holds a doctorate in Art Therapy Psychology. She has practiced psychotherapy for nearly 20 years, providing evidence based treatment for couples, families and youth. In addition to Structural and Strategic Family Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Karrie has extensive training and experience with Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). DBT focuses on the development of mindfulness skills, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Her work supports individuals, couples and families through difficult transitions, managing challenging behaviors and coping with mental health symptoms. Karrie has taught Marriage and Family Therapy and Art Therapy students at the Masters and Doctoral levels at Notre Dame de Namur University, and has provided continuing education and licensing preparation trainings for MFT Interns and Associate Social Workers. She has worked as an administrator and clinical supervisor for a Short Term Residential Treatment Facility serving adolescents with serious mental health issues and complex trauma. Karrie's approach is curious, non judgmental and skills based. Email: [email protected] |
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Cristina (Tina) Carter, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Tina is a bi-racial native to San Francisco who completed her graduate degree in Portland, OR. She works with adolescents and adults to provide individual and family therapy in a variety of situations. Tina has experience working in high schools, providing therapy to children and families in Wellington, New Zealand, and in mental health services at the YMCA of SF for youth and families. Tina values authenticity in her approach to supporting a range of issues including transition and change, trauma (specific, complex, intergenerational), anxiety, identity, family conflict, depressed mood, and motivation. She draws from a combination of therapeutic models to increase a sense of control and find peace through adversity, and works from the foundation that people exist in their relationships to others. Email: CristinaCarter@bayareaadolescent.com |
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Kellie Brown, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Kellie Brown, LMFT, gained her degree from the CAMFT accredited program at Touro University. She sees clients all over the state via telehealth, providing services to individuals, couples, and families, having served under-represented clients for the last three years. With a strong commitment to support clients who struggle with anxiety, depression, major-life transition, trauma, parenting questions, and relationship instability, she has been focusing on developing her skills in treating those with the unique challenges of ADHD. Enjoying a blended family of her own, Kellie understands that our relationships end up shaping our view of ourselves and others in both beautiful and broken ways. She endorses any therapist who can help you align your values and your choices, to live more resiliently and more compassionately, so that you are able to pursue the relationships you want with the integrity you desire. Kellie’s ambition is to collaborate with clients toward the outcomes that best resonate with their journey of healing and wholeness, leading individuals and families to a life of vitality and fulfillment, and producing enduring relationships. Choosing to engage in therapy can be the first step toward claiming the life you deserve. Email: [email protected] |
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Ruby Wara-Goss, LCSW - Licensed Social Worker
Ruby (she/her/hers) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who brings a decade of experience supporting youth, young adults, caregivers, families, and individuals navigate loss and attachment ruptures, anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma, family conflict, life stressors, and the life cycle. Ruby approaches her sessions with warmth, humility, and a strengths-based lens, valuing collaboration, authenticity, and creativity. Ruby draws upon multiple therapeutic approaches including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, attachment-based science, family systems, eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), mindfulness practices, harm reduction principles, non-violent communication, Gottman methodology, emotionally focussed therapy (EFT), the nurtured heart approach, and play therapy. Recently, she has also been SPACE trained. SPACE is a caregiver-based treatment for childhood and adolescent anxiety and OCD. Ruby received her Master of Social Work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College-CUNY in NYC. Ruby has primarily worked in community mental health and forensic social work, with a strong focus in family therapy, individual therapy, caregiver support, and crisis intervention. Ruby has blended family, mental health, and social/economic justice roots in the Bay Area, which have contributed to her guiding belief that through the process of healing ourselves and each other, the healthier and more equitable our communities and world can become. When not relishing in her steadfast love of the Bay, Ruby can be found gardening, crafting, attending live music performances, playing non-competitive soccer, watching documentaries, petting dogs, and trying to leave the world a little better than she found it. Email: [email protected] |
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Brittany Woodward, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Brittany Woodward, LMFT, specializes in working with adolescents, young adults, and adults, providing individual and family therapy. With a client-centered approach, Brittany values and respects each individual's autonomy, empowering them to create positive changes in their lives. She integrates evidence-based techniques and theories, including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and is currently undergoing training in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). These approaches allow her to effectively support individuals in healing and growing from past traumatic experiences, managing and overcoming anxiety and depression, breaking long-standing family patterns, and gaining a deeper sense of self and meaning in their lives. Through these modalities, she has been successful at working in high acuity settings for the treatment of depression, anxiety, substance use, trauma, relationships, and self-esteem. Brittany firmly believes in the power of science and human connection to bring about transformation and change. In her practice, she brings warmth, a genuine desire to fully understand her clients, and the occasional crack at humor. Recognizing that therapy is not a one-size-fits-all approach, Brittany is dedicated to fostering a therapeutic environment that allows individuals to see and recognize their potential and bring about a sense of empowerment within their lives. Email: [email protected] |
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Asher Kaufman - Licensed Social Worker
Bringing together a mix of therapeutic methods, Asher Kaufman, LCSW, is devoted to supporting adolescents and families as they navigate the journey of healing and growth. With a compassionate and teen-focused approach, Asher strives to create a safe and empowering environment where teenagers can freely express themselves and develop effective coping skills. Using tailored interventions suited to their unique experiences, he helps adolescents navigate emotions and challenges, fostering resilience and emotional well-being during this pivotal stage of development. With a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Asher is committed to delivering high-quality teletherapy, ensuring accessibility for families throughout California. Collaborating closely with adolescents and their families, Asher seeks to strengthen bonds, foster understanding, and cultivate lasting connections that support family harmony and the personal growth of each individual and family. Email: [email protected] |
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Matthew Rensi, Ph. D., LPCC - Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
Matthew T Rensi, Ph. D., LPCC. is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor who also holds a Ph. D. in counselor education and supervision. He has extensive experience providing therapy to people struggling with ADHD, anxiety, trauma and ODD. In addition to this, he provides trainings throughout US on various aspects of mental health treatment including assessment, individual therapy, and safety/crisis situations. He is an adjunct professor at Western Seminary. Matt also actively researches the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders using linguistic analysis, as well as how AI can be used in the counseling field. Email: [email protected] |
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Jessica Decker - Bilingual Licensed Marriage Family Therapist
Jessica, LMFT, is deeply committed to truly connect, listen deeply, and tailor her approach to meet each person's unique needs. Jessica earned her degree from the University René Descartes in Paris, France, and is fluent in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. She works from a strength-based and attachment perspective, always considering the role of family and community in a person’s life. Jessica also integrates her belief in the mind-body connection into her practice, drawing from a variety of therapeutic models, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and incorporating somatic techniques to help clients feel more grounded and connected to themselves. She is experienced in working with adolescents, understanding the unique emotional and developmental challenges they face. She focuses on creating a safe and non-judgmental space for teens to explore their identity, manage emotional struggles, and strengthen their resilience as they navigate the complexities of adolescence. Above all, Jessica is committed to making therapy a space where clients feel safe, supported, and empowered to make meaningful changes in their lives. Email: [email protected] |
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Jeffrey Bettencourt, LEP, LMFT, LPCC - Marriage and Family Therapist
Jeff’s 30+ years as a Marriage and Family Therapist, evaluator and consultant provides his clients a pragmatic, compassionate, and integrated approach to life’s challenges. Jeff utilizes standardized assessments, therapeutic educational structure, proven clinical interventions and techniques, providing a nurturing, yet challenging sessions. Jeff’s supportive, yet direct approach ensures clients will experience a safe, structured, purposeful driven sessions, integrated with care, wisdom, and clinical expertise. Email: [email protected] |
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Anna Craig, Ph.D - Psychologist
Anna Craig, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist licensed in California who specializes in assessing and treating individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). She has experience training and supervising doctoral psychology interns in adult ADHD assessments in a university counseling center setting. She provides remote assessments for ADHD at the Institute for Advancement of Psychotherapy (IAP). In addition to administering a comprehensive set of diagnostic tests, Dr. Craig puts great care into tailoring each assessment report to the individual. She recognizes the importance of treatment recommendations or the “now what?" question that comes out an ADHD diagnosis (or lack thereof), with the goal that each client leaves the assessment experience feeling more self-aware and empowered for their next step in personal growth. Email: [email protected] |
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Brook Cardenas, Psy.D - Psychologist
Dr. Brook Cardenas is a licensed clinical psychologist devoted to helping adolescents navigate life's challenging transitions. Brook is passionate about facilitating children's secure attachments to their caregivers and grow into well-adjusted adults. With adults, she finds deep meaning in helping them to repair relationship wounds. Brook specializes in family therapy (including what is sometimes called "reunification therapy") and co-parent counseling. Drawing on training in EMDR, DBT, Child-Parent Relationship Therapy, and other evidence based treatments, Brook offers compassion, structure, and clarity to all families, including those experiencing separation and divorce, even high-conflict, court-mandated cases. Guided by the belief that all people strive toward healing and growth, she is committed to helping families in any configuration strengthen relationships and find stable ground. Email: [email protected] |
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Danett Williams, LEP - Licensed Educational Psychologist
Are you worried about your child’s struggles at home or in school? Have you been told your child doesn’t qualify for an evaluation, but you still feel something isn’t right? Maybe you’re wondering if you or your child might have ADHD, autism, or a learning difference. You are not alone—and you don’t have to figure this out on your own. I am a Licensed Educational Psychologist in California (LEP No. 4112). I work with both children and adults, offering counseling and psychoeducational testing to help bring clarity, relief, and a plan forward. Parents often come to me with questions such as: Did my child’s early medical challenges affect their development? Could adoption or early trauma be behind my child’s big feelings or behaviors? Adults often come looking to better understand themselves, especially around attention, learning, or neurodiversity. My approach is warm, supportive, and relationship-based. With children, I use play and connection to build trust so they feel safe to share and grow. With adults, I provide a compassionate space to explore challenges, strengths, and next steps. I also draw on Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT), a brain-based, developmental approach that helps identify what kind of support is needed at the right time. I am one of only two providers in San Francisco trained in NMT, which can be especially helpful for children and adults who have experienced trauma. Whether through counseling or testing, in-person or online, my goal is to give you clarity, practical strategies, and the reassurance that you and your child are supported. I believe, as Dr. Bruce Perry says, that “relationships are the agent of change and the most powerful therapy is human love.” Email: [email protected] |
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Lauren Riley, LMFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
Lauren Riley, LMFT (she/her) is a psychotherapist who specializes in supporting adolescents and their families. She works with teens navigating overwhelm, identity development, school or social stress, emotional regulation challenges, and family conflict. Lauren helps teens better understand their feelings, build coping tools, and develop a stronger sense of self and confidence. Her approach is relational, trauma-informed, and grounded in CBT, DBT, EFT, and family therapy models. Lauren partners with both teens and caregivers to strengthen communication, reduce reactivity, and create supportive, developmentally appropriate structures at home. In addition to telehealth, she offers ecotherapy—nature-based sessions in local parks—where movement, mindfulness, and the natural environment help teens regulate their nervous systems and access calm, focus, and connection. Lauren’s aim is to help adolescents feel understood, empowered, and equipped to navigate the challenges and transitions of teenage life. Email: [email protected] |
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Callie (Caroline) Millington, LPCC - Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
Callie is a licensed psychotherapist who works with individuals, couples, and families. Her approach is rooted in Family Systems, interpersonal, and attachment-based frameworks, and she draws on trauma-informed modalities including Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic body awareness, and mindfulness. She works with clients navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, life transitions, and relationship challenges, with a particular focus on early relational and intergenerational trauma. She earned her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans and holds licensure in California, Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Montana. Callie has additional training in Buddhist Psychology through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Callie has experience working with children, teens and their families from a systemic perspective, treating concerns including ADHD, ODD, anxiety, and relationship challenges. Email: [email protected] |
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Charles Ahern, Ph.D. - Psychologist
Dr. Ahern is a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist with over 25 years of experience in providing psychotherapy, neuropsychological assessments, and learning interventions. He works with children, adolescents, adults, and families. Dr. Ahern has devoted his career to understanding the interplay between attentional functioning, cognitive functioning, and emotional experience. His work with clients centers on practical approaches which can facilitate profound growth. Dr. Ahern received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. As a predoctoral intern, he trained for two years in neuropsychology at Wake Forest Medical School and completed an APA - approved internship at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Dr. Ahern completed his postdoctoral training at the UCSF Medical Center, where he was an Irving B. Harris fellow. He then joined the staff at UCSF where, in addition to his clinical duties, he trained and supervised psychology students and medical interns. Dr. Ahern has lectured nationally on attentional functioning, executive functioning, and learning. His publications include the book “Beyond Individual Differences” (Springer, 2011). Email: [email protected] |
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Chanelle Ramsubick, MD - Psychiatrist
Dr. Chanelle Ramsubick is a double board-certified pediatric psychiatrist specializing in ADHD. She takes a collaborative approach to care, getting to know each child and their caregivers to understand their unique goals, concerns, and experiences. She believes the best treatment happens when everyone is on the same team, with each person feeling heard and involved in the process. Treatment plans are personalized and may include lifestyle changes, school accommodations, behavioral strategies, and medication when appropriate. She encourages families to ask questions and takes the time to discuss all options, including the benefits and potential side effects of medications, so they can make informed decisions with confidence. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Ramsubick is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, where she teaches psychiatry residents and lectures on emerging psychiatric medications and advances in evidence-based treatment. She completed her psychiatry residency at SUNY Downstate and her Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Email: [email protected] |
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Emily Cobbey, LCSW - Licensed Social Worker
Emily is a licensed clinical social worker with 10 years of experience helping adolescents, adults and families of all configurations navigate stress, heal from past hurts, and make changes that persist once therapy ends (and it will end!). Emily operates from the belief that the human experience naturally lean towards healing. That said, sometimes our experiences, upbringings—even biology or physical bodies—can feel like they are creating barriers to living the life we want. Emily works collaboratively with clients to identify the therapeutic destination as well as the roads best suited to getting there. Emily is certified in EMDR, and has specialized training in DBT, ACT and Internal Family Systems. She has spent the majority of her career working with teens and families, and is passionate about helping young people connect with themselves, their peers and their families in enduring and healthy ways. Prior to moving towards private therapy, Emily worked in community centers, school systems and community-based mental health helping adolescents and families find healing via collective empowerment in the form of community organizing, advocacy and systems change. Engaging in these spaces outside of the therapy room is still an important part of Emily’s life, as is spending time with her families (biological and chosen), her ever-growing brood of nieces and nephews, and her most trusted canine companion, Pancho. Email: [email protected] |
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Cyrus Chi, PhD – Psychologist
Dr. Chi has been working with clients for nearly 10 years following a trauma-informed, values-oriented therapeutic process. He currently sees clients in Campbell in the south bay area, or via telehealth in California. Dr. Chi regularly works with individuals, couples, and families who are struggling with Anxiety, OCD, ADHD, Trauma, or relationship difficulties. Beyond clients from the community, he also specializes in working with immigrants, veterans, LGBTQ+, and blended families and couples. Email: [email protected] |
Bay Area Center For Adolescents
Providing Trusted, Compassionate, Effective Therapy
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San Francisco • Marin • East Bay • Peninsula • South Bay •
Anywhere in California via Zoom |
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email
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phone
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(415) 448-6679
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