Child Therapists in Oakland, CA
See all therapists in OaklandWaitlist for new clients

Francisca Lizana
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT
Verified
7 Endorsed
Verified
7 Endorsed
**Currently only accepting adults**. My practice sees adults and
children
who seek support for a variety of reasons. I see adults who want a safe place to express, download and explore what is presently challenging, whether a life transition, change, relocation/acculturation, hardships, anxiety, depression or simply not feeling happy. Similarly, I see
children
who are experiencing family changes or transitions, behavioral challenges at home and/or school, who need social-emotional skills towards better self-regulation, as well as support in overcoming trauma, depression, anxiety or navigating learning challenges, amongst others.

Adriana N Taranta
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW, MSW
Verified
Verified
Are you concerned about your
child
’s behavior? Are you struggling to understand what is happening for your
child
? Are you finding parenting overwhelming? I work with
children
and parents to help them make meaning of life’s challenges and work with
children
and parents, both individually and together. I bring more than twenty years of experience providing therapy, consultation, and assessments with
children
and their families to my clinical practice. I have experience working with
children
and families around many issues including, loss, attachment, adoption, anxiety, depression, atypical development, learning differences and trauma.

Kristy Shanks
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
Do you or your
child
have difficulty maintaining healthy relationships? Are you or your
child
anxious or depressed? Is your family having difficulty connecting? I am here to support you, your
child
, or your family in expressing your feelings, acknowledging your lived experiences, and navigating relationships.

Mickey P Marshall
Psychologist, PsyD, MA
Verified
Verified
Selecting the right therapist is essential- here is some information about me and my practice to help inform your decision. I am a licensed clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience working with
children
and adolescents. I work collaboratively with parents in creation of goals and throughout the course of treatment. Through play I help
children
to; express difficult feelings, resolve internal conflicts, learn adaptive ways to cope, and to develop resiliency. I offer free phone consultations in order to help determine if I am the right therapist for your
child
.

Marla R Rosen
Marriage & Family Therapist, MEd, MFT
Verified
Verified
With
children
, I create a safe and trusting environment to support and transform negative emotions that illicit guilt, shame and impact self esteem.
You are searching for your resilience! I will help you regain your joy and confidence in parenting. As you continue to navigate the Pandemic, your personal and work related stressors, there is a feeling of helplessness. Your
child
retreats into depression or acts out in anger or fits of anxiety. Their social & emotional suffering impacts your entire family and while it's your deepest wish to comfort them you feel lost. If you are partnered, there is tension in your parenting styles. You are committed to learning strategies that support your
child
and are sustainable. You want them to feel seen and understood. Help is here!

Alison Hart Siggelkow
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
I also work closely with parents and can help you to understand what your
child
and family needs to thrive.
I offer humor, warmth and unconditional acceptance of whatever you bring into session. I've worked with many different issues across many different age groups including: depression, anxiety, existential and relationship issues and trauma. Many clients come in wanting to unpack their past- others need to focus on the present. I can meet you wherever you are and help you develop a healthy relationship to yourself and others.
Children
's psychological needs often represent themselves a little differently, but ultimately require the same safe space to explore, unpack and process.

Toni Li
Psychologist, PsyD
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
Are you feeling stressed? Feeling dissatisfied with your life or work? Or are you a parent who is worried about your
child
? Maybe there’s been a change, they’re not doing as well as you know they could. Perhaps you’ve observed a worrisome pattern of increased stress and anxiety in them...but they won’t talk to you like they used to. I have extensive experience working with adults,
children
, teens and families experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress. Additionally, I have experience in working with people diagnosed with ADHD, as they often need support for feelings of inadequacy, regret, anxiety, and depression.
Not accepting new clients
Ruben Garibaldo
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW
Verified
Verified
I am a culturally conscious therapist with particular sensibility towards those who seek to address and recognize their strengths and fundamental worth. I enjoy working with people and families of diverse backgrounds and across all life stages, from school age
children
to elder adults.I am bilingual in English and Spanish and practice psychotherapy in both languages. My work emphasizes the importance of maintaining a reflective space where individuals, families and caregivers can receive emotional support and insight while remaining strengths focused. Empathy and compassion are essential to any transformative work. I employ

Katherine Tarnoff
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
Through counseling, I support families to identify patterns in behavior and communication. Our work together will be collaborative and strengths-based. It will encourage shifts in the family to promote healthy expression of emotions and communication to improve relationships. I use a directive style of communication and an active and integrative approach with
children
and adolescents. I encourage parents, caregivers and other family members to be involved in the therapeutic process.

Stephanie Rosso
Psychologist, PhD
Verified
2 Endorsed
Verified
2 Endorsed
Are you worried about your
child
? Are they having trouble in school? Not making friends? Has being a parent become really stressful?
Parenting is always a challenge and can be even harder if your
child
is having emotional or behavioral difficulties. My goals are to help
children
reach their maximum potential emotionally, socially, and behaviorally and help parents be empowered and have more effective parenting skills. I specialize in working with
children
who have emotional, behavioral and academic difficulties including ADHD, anxiety, depression, poor frustration tolerance, loss of a loved one, trauma, family conflict, and interpersonal relationship difficulties.
Waitlist for new clients

Patricia Banchik Rothschild
Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT, CMHIMP
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
My expertise is working with trauma, grief & sexual abuse of
children
, teens and adults using trauma focused CBT, EMDR, Brain Spotting &play therapy.
My experience comes from 31 years of helping
children
, adults, couples and families in both Community Mental Health and Private Practice. My approach is eclectic and tailored to each individual's needs to facilitate healing and growth. Through my years of experience I have witnessed over and over again people coming into therapy with great pain, discomfort and despair but with time, (sometimes within a very short time) their symptoms diminish and a whole new person emerges. Crisis times can be extremely painful and distressful but they can also be opportunities for growth and healing through therapy.

Michael Y. Simon, LMFT
Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, MS, LMFT
Verified
Verified
I've spent the last two decades in support of
children
, youth and families, with a special expertise in adolescents/adolescent development.
Therapy should not and cannot be "one size fits all." It should be rooted in a consistent, deep effort to understand who you are and what you need, in relation to the resources you have near you. Therapy should also be practical and offer some fairly immediate results, even though bigger change takes time. It's ultimately about collaboration, and the formation of a helpful relationship. Although I have 25 years of clinical experience to bring to our work, it is more important that you feel we have a good match as we enter this work together. I trust that after we talk, you'll know whether it seems like the right match.

Sarika Bahl
Psychologist, PsyD, MEd
Verified
1 Endorsed
Verified
1 Endorsed
Are you experiencing low self esteem? Dealing with grief or loss? Is your
child
or teen struggling? Feeling anxious or depressed? Psychotherapy can help you form a better relationship with yourself, your family, and others. I work collaboratively with clients, establishing a warm, empathic environment that feels safe and free of judgement. I provide individual psychotherapy and family therapy across the lifespan, and have training and experience working with
children
, adolescents, parents, and individual adult clients. I offer telehealth (anywhere in CA) as well as outdoor therapy (in the East Bay).
Not accepting new clients

Bridge Psych Services - Dr. Aisling Forbes
Psychological Associate, PhD
Verified
Verified
I see
children
, adolescents, and adults for individual, family, and couples therapy.
We can all struggle with stressors at certain times and/or throughout our lives. My goal is to give you the space to explore freely about any problems, issues or concerns along with the successes that you are experiencing. Together we will then identify possible ways to better cope with the challenges life can throw at us.

Veronique N Lee
Psychologist, PsyD
Verified
Verified
I am a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked for many years with
children
, adolescents and adults struggling with depression, anxiety, grief and trauma.
Seeking help is often the first step in making a change for the better. My goal as a therapist is to support you in your steps towards wellness. I work with
children
, adolescents, adults and families with a wide range of emotional concerns. I support
children
and adolescents struggling with emotional or behavioral issues, adults managing life stress, individuals facing life transitions, or families struggling with communication difficulties. As a therapist I will work collaboratively with you to build upon your strengths to create change and will tailor my treatments to meet your unique needs.

Krystal J Alderete
Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT, MA
Verified
Verified
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in
child
and adolescent development with over 15 years of experience working with
children
, teens and families. I have extensive training in
child
development and have been employed in outpatient and inpatient facilities, have served as the lead mental health clinician in multidisciplinary teams working with
children
struggling with feeding issues, and have run social skills groups in addition to providing individual and family treatment. I have a substantial amount of experience with teens suffering from anxiety and depression.

Cary Littell
Psychologist, PhD, MPH
Verified
Verified
People seek therapy when they feel unhappy, anxious, stuck in patterns and relationships that don't serve them or acting in ways that are self-destructive. Therapy can address and change outmoded ways of being. The therapeutic relationship is key to this work: It offers the possibility of exploring and understanding more effective and satisfying ways of relating to ourselves and others. I work with
children
, adolescents and adults in individual therapy, using a collaborative approach that centers on empathy, understanding, curiosity and exploration.
Not accepting new clients

I am retired and do not work with any patients!!
Psychologist
Verified
2 Endorsed
Verified
2 Endorsed
I've had extensive experience with brief, cognitive behavioral,
child
, family, couples, psychoanalytic therapy and psychoanalysis.
Over 40 years of diverse practice has taught me that when people are in psychotherapy they create ingenious ways to grow, to resolve internal/social conflict and to improve their sense of personal fulfillment. They are innovative and sincere. Therapy is more than a serious, shared introspection. It is also a playful interaction. It usually involves a full range of emotions that includes a sharing of ideas and a mutual exchange, which almost always involves a lively conversation. There seems to be one common theme, namely that each person is seeking to find a sense of truth and well-being.
Not accepting new clients

Kathryn Orfirer
Psychologist, PhD
Verified
Verified
I offer individual therapy, play therapy, infant/
child
-parent psychotherapy, parent guidance/coaching and filial therapy.
A clinical and developmental psychologist with over 30 years experience, I work with adults, parents and
children
from birth through adolescence. Development is a continual balance of equilibrium and disequilibrium; a lifelong process as our bodies, brains, relationships and societal expectations change. While the challenges along the way bring the discomfort of vulnerability and negative emotions, they also create opportunity for growth and change. From infancy on, we all have an inner vitality into which therapy can allow us to tap. Therapy provides a safe protected space that nurtures exploration, reflection, growth and change.

Katrina Brashares
Marriage & Family Therapist Associate, AMFT
Verified
Verified
I work in person or via telehealth at The
Children
's Institute in Oakland (thechildrensinstitute.
I work with
children
, teens, young adults, and families to help restore equilibrium to their lives. With a healthy and positive therapeutic relationship, we will work together to explore patterns and find solutions. I have experience working with a range of neurodiversity in
children
, as well as helping those with learning differences. Parent coaching is one of my specialties, no matter the age of your
child
.
See more therapy options for
Child Therapists
Do I need to attend therapy with my child?
Parents are an integral part of a child’s therapy, but the specifics of their involvement vary. If your child is young, you may attend most or all sessions; if your child is older, you may attend a few sessions or none; sometimes a therapist may ask you to have a session on your own. Whatever the arrangement, you should expect to work collaboratively with the therapist, your child, and your family members to take steps to help support your child.
How long are sessions with child therapists?
Children’s therapy sessions can last 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 60 minutes. The length of the session may depend on your child’s age and the type of therapy practiced. You can discuss this with therapists you consult and the one you ultimately move forward with.
How do I get a child to agree to seek therapy?
The best approach is to have an open-ended conversation with your child about how they’re doing and what they might be struggling with. When you raise therapy, discuss the concept in an age-appropriate way, for example explaining that a therapist’s job is to help kids handle their hard or uncomfortable feelings. Frame therapy positively, as an opportunity to explore and build emotional skills—it’s an important tool in the toolbox to help kids feel their best.
How can I tell if a therapist is a good fit for my child?
A child needs to feel comfortable opening up about their thoughts and feelings, so if your child feels a sense of comfort, ease, and trust with their therapist, that’s a great sign. In addition, a therapist is a good fit for your child if the two can communicate well together; a clinician should be able to communicate clearly, effectively, and in an age-appropriate manner.