Bio
I am a psychiatric social worker with a specialty in child and family therapy. I joined Kaiser Permanente and the Child and Family Psychiatry Team in 1997 as a case manager in our Teen Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). The Teen IOP provides care to adolescents and their parents who are in the midst of a significant psychiatric crisis. Many of the teens we serve have required psychiatric hospitalization or crisis intervention through our Emergency Department due to suicide attempts or serious self-injurious or endangering behavior. I am currently the coordinator of the Teen IOP and am proud to work along with five colleagues to provide this excellent program to Kaiser members.
Parents should be aware that the Psychiatry Department offers 24 hour/7 day per week on-call coverage for psychiatric emergencies through the Emergency Department. Parents can call our department (571-3778) during business hours for advice on how to manage psychiatric or behavioral crises with their children. However, in the event of an immediate safety risk we recommend calling 911 or proceeding safely to the Emergency Department.
In addition to coordinating the Teen IOP, I also work in the TOTS Program which is designed to help families with difficult to manage 2-5 year olds. The TOTS Program was developed by my colleague, Dr. Paul Reiser, and two other Kaiser psychologists several years ago. Research has shown TOTS to be highly effective in changing the troubled behavior of these younger children. Families can get access to TOTS by making an appointment in our department. That process starts by calling (707) 571-3778 during regular business hours.
I also am one of the staff who provide triage and urgent care services for Child and Family Psychiatry. In this capacity I help orient parents to our services through the Early Assessment Program, do screenings for new appointments, and assess children and teenagers who are in crisis. I currently do not carry a regular caseload of patients separate from seeing families in therapy through the Teen IOP.
I graduated with a Masters in Social Welfare (M.S.W.) from U.C. Berkeley in 1985 and was licensed as a clinical social worker in California in 1988.
If you have questions regarding the services that I have mentioned above, feel free to call me at (707) 571-3744. I hope the information contained here will be helpful to your family. |
