Therapists at Kaiser
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
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Oakland Kaiser Therapist for Child
Dec 2011
I am looking for an Oakland Kaiser therapist for my almost seven year old son. He is having social and behavioral issues that I think are stemming from difficulties at school, low self esteem, and anger and impulse control issues. He won't talk to me or his dad about it. I think that he needs someone to listen to him that is not emotionally imvested in his behavior and who is just there for him. Someone who is good with family systems and could see one or both parents as well would also be great. Thank you. Looking for someone to talk to.
I wanted to highly recommend Dr. Jose Lopez at Oakland Kaiser for your child. Dr. Lopez is truly amazing. He has been working with us and our five year old son who has had a lot of problems with peer relationships and school. Dr. Lopez offers such concrete suggestions and advice and has a wealth of experience working with children. I always feel so much better after seeing him. Another nice thing is that Dr. Lopez works with a very wide range of children's behaviors so he does a nice job of doing some reality checking when I start to feel like our situation is dire. Oh and Dr. Lopez has been completely willing to go to our son's school on two different occasions to observe and offer suggestions to the school on how best to work with our child. Anonymous
Looking for a Kaiser therapist for my husband
April 2008
My husband is interested in seeing a therapist through the Kaiser network and is having trouble finding someone who comes highly recommended. We live in Berkeley, so either Kaiser Oakland, possibly Richmond or the new extended network that Kaiser is offering in the area would be suitable. My husband is 50+ years old, intelligent and somewhat skeptical about therapy, but interested in giving it a try again. He would need to work with someone who is both extremely insightful and articulate. Definitely not looking for someone who is going to give him predictable ''textbook'' answers. Humor is a plus. If you or someone you know has recently had a positive experience with one of the local therapists covered by Kaiser, we would greatly appreciate your recommendation. Thank you. Anon
If you are expecting to have a weekly 50 minutes therapy for your husband, forget Kaiser. Kaiser is good for many things but not individual deep insight oriented therapy. They offer groups, brief (10min) check in kind of ''therapy'' but not what you might be looking for. If he is already skeptical about therapy, I really don't recommend kasier. I would recommend findking a good private therapist although they are pricey but some of them are really worth it. good luck therapist myself and knows kaiser system
Kaiser therapist for depression
June 2006
Hi- I'm looking for a good therapist to help me with depression and childhood abuse issues. I'm a Kaiser member and don't have the resources for private therapy. Would prefer a woman but otherwise am open. Thanks
I saw Dr. Annemieke (Annie) deJong, and thought she was quite intelligent, perceptive, and patient. I saw her for all of the 20 visits that my Kaiser membership allowed for, and when I felt I needed further treatment, she referred me to a non-Kaiser therapist that I really liked, and who I saw for another year and a half. The only negative (which was not Dr. DeJong's fault) was that appointments were hard to schedule, and sometimes I had to go more than 2 weeks between sessions - which is an awfully long time when you are depressed. There did not seem to be any way to just have the same slot every week feeling much better now
Kaiser therapist for short term intervention
March 2005
I am looking into using my medical benefits of 20 hours of therapy through Kaiser. If you had a successful experience with a Kaiser therapist who can provide a short term intervention focusing on a specific problem, I'll be happy to get your recommendation. Thank you, A potential client
I had a good experience with Annemieke (Annie) DeJong at Oakland Kaiser. My condition involved mainly depression, with some anxiety and grief issues. She was very understanding, without insulting my intelligence.
Good for you for seeking out a therapist. In my case, the 20 visits were not enough, so I continued therapy with another (non- Kaiser) doctor. But 20 hours is a start, and could be enough to help you find your footing. Therapy did me good
Kaiser Therapists for an Adult
June 2003
I'm looking for someone to work with--talking, gestalt, insight, whatever--so I can take advantage of my mental health benefits for the 20 sessions I'm allowed. To narrow the field, I would say that I get more from a therapist who smiles, is enthusiastic and demonstrates a sense of humor, rather than someone who quietly sits back in the chair and doesn't react much. I could go to either Oakland, Richmond, San Rafael or Walnut Creek. Thanks.
I love my therapist at Kaiser San Francisco, Christine Chu. She is very compassionate, a good listener, and turns the focus to my strengths while not dismissing the validity of my difficulties. She does not put things into a diagnostic format which I like- labeling disorders always makes me feel flawed. She is not overtly feminist in her approach, but she is so intrinsicaly. I see her on a long-term basis which Kaiser gives me because of a chronic condition. Kaiser Oakland had told me that only short-term was available. But I only get to see her every 5-6 weeks, which of course makes it very different than the intensity of private (expensive) therapy. I am considering switching to Kaiser San Rafael for my therapy because it is faster for me to get to than San Francisco. But I hate to leave Christine!
Dr. Eaton (male) at Kaiser Richmond is kind, caring, competent, grounded. highly recommended. Laura
A friend of mine is a therapist at Kaiser in Walnut Creek, Silvia Gorla. I don't know her as a therapist but rather as a friend. She is very intelligent, compassionate, open -- all the wonderful things you could say about a friend. Given her relationship with me and any other friends I've seen her with, I can't imagine she would fail to provide her best in her chosen field. She's never worn a ''badge'' of feminism around me, but her life is not one lacking feminism.
a female friend
I have had a wonderful experience with Dr. Moulton at Oakland Kaiser (510-752-6696)--she fits the description that you are looking for. Good luck! K.
Kitsy Schoen and Joanna Manqueros are enthusiastic thoughtful therapists. Both at Kaiser Oakland. eve
Have you accessed Kaiser's web site? They have a member's website with lots of info and discussion groups so you can ask all kinds of questions (yours would be a good one) to other members with a staff person (nurse/or doctor) monitoring the discussion. It reminds me of UC parents, but their level of security and efforts to protect member privacy are higher...you need to register and get an ID number/ password to participate. Not hard to do if you are a Kaiser member. Lissa
Kaiser Therapist for Spirited Child
February 2003
I was happy to find the recommendations for therapists at Kaiser. I am seeking one for my ''spirited'' nine year old - if you have one yourself you know what I mean! - bright, high energy, high emotions and low frustration tolerance....some characteristics of the ''explosive'' children discussed in other recommendations. Seems that most of the Kaiser recommmendations are for children dealing with separation and divorce - any suggestions for one who has experience and expertise dealing with spirited children - or trained in temperament therapy (is that what it's called? )
Oakland Kaiser used to have a group program for elementary school age kids but I'm not sure if they still do. We had Dr. Jose Lopez when we needed a specialist to work with our shy 4-y- o and found Dr. Lopez to be kind, gentle and patient, although he didn't seem to take much of what we said (our self- diagnosis?) into consideration when he began working with our kid. He also seems to have lots of experience working with pre- teen kids on a variety of issues. By the way, if a therapist doesn't work out after you make an effort to make things work, switch to another one. That's what my therapist friend told me.
Rona Renner is amazing! I took a class with her, and a friend consulted her for temperament issues concerning her son. Rona is a mother of several children herself. I wish I had Kaiser health insurance just so that I could consult with her! Alison
We have two boys, both of whom qualify as ''spirited''. We have had a good experience therapists and programs at Kaiser Oakland. Specifically Anna Wong and Robin Peters as individuals and the social skills class for our younger son who has difficulty in social situations. matheny
Therapist for 4-year-old son
This is in response to the person who was seeking counseling for her 4-year old son, preferably at Kaiser. There is an excellent person at Kaiser Oakland, Dr. Wong - first name Anna, I think - who works with kids. We consulted her last fall after our son starting biting at day-care, and found her extremely helpful. Don't have a direct number, but she can be reached indirectly through the main psychiatry number.
Kaiser- Oakland absolutely does provide short-term counseling for kids and families and I'd recommend Dr. Mary Haake. When my husband and I separated, my son - 2.5 years old at the time - had screaming-sobbing fits, especially about going to my new home. We had several appointments with Dr. Haake, some all together, some separately. My son didn't always have to be there. She even called me at home so we could talk before she went on vacation. I last went to her sometime this last fall. She interacted with my son, observed him playing, and listened a lot to our accounts of his behavior. In the end, she didn't really counsel my son, but rather counseled me and my husband on handling parenting during the separation. Her recommendations partly led to my husband to seek further counseling for himself. She also provided a lot of insight on re-assuring my son. I also found that even when I hadn't seen her for a while I was able to get an appointment with her quickly when a crisis occurred. I do not recall if I had to get a referral or not, but you can call child psychiatry (I think it is accessed through the main psychiatry number). It does count against your annual number of mental health visits.
Dr. Mary Haake is in the Broadway building, 4th floor, 596 1075 - direct line, but you might have to call the psychiatry number to get the first appointment. Alan
I want to second the recommendation for Dr. Mary Haake at Oakland Kaiser. When my husband and I separated, she saw both my kids. A 7.5 year old girl and 4 yr old boy. (my son was too young to really engage with her, but she offerred a lot of insight and advice to me on how to help him) She also runs a kids divorce group which my daughter attended and from which we all benefitted. We had some health and custodial conflicts in the family and Dr. Haake was very good to work with on those also -- always helping to place things in the kids perspective and looking out for their best interest. She even spent time talking to me over the phone when things were particularly tough.
Try Earth Circles in Oakland. I believe they have a contract with Beacon. I hope they can help.
Psychiatric Alternatives is based in SF but most (if not all) of their practitioners are doing remote therapy. They have a lot of therapists, and many who take the Kaiser/Beacon referral. I am currently working with someone there who takes that referral. You have to email their intake person and then they’ll send back a list of who’s available (even if it says no one is online, I think usually someone becomes available quickly — that was my experience).
Also, it was indeed a nightmare to try to find someone good/available/who takes that referral, so also want to commiserate that it indeed sucks and I’m not surprised you’re at the “desperate” point. Good luck!!
I just went through something similar looking for a therapist for my son. I called several under contract with Beacon from their list of providers but got no response or no availability. If you're not having luck with their list, you can also try reaching back out to the Kaiser facility department who gave you the Beacon referral. We were able to get a different referral to a therapy group under individual contract with Kaiser because we couldn't find anyone through Beacon and it worked out.