Kaiser Therapists
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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