About us

  Psychologist

Dr. Gooding works with adolescents and emerging adults as well as with their parents. Dr. Gooding’s practice with youth focuses on supporting them in cultivating self-understanding as well as skills as they unfold into their expanding roles

in the world.

She also works with adults who are navigating challenging parenting circumstances, working through significant transitions, integrating personal history, and building authentic social support systems.

Her style is warm, active and collaborative. She has been trained in several modalities and integrates both a developmental and a systems level perspectives into her work. She received her degrees and training from Reed College, California Institute of Integral Studies, The CG Jung Institute of San Francisco, and The Wright Institute’s School Based Collaboration.

Dr. Gooding works with teens, emerging adults and parents.

She also administers IQ testing for private school admission.

  Marriage and Family Therapist 

Ms. Deshmukh works with children, teens, adults, parents, and families. She believes in providing an individualized, culturally sensitive, and tailored treatment approach to every client she meets using evidence-based practices. Ms. Deshmukh’s areas of experience and practice includes anxiety (generalized anxiety, OCD, Panic disorder, and phobias), depression, ADHD, emotion regulation, relationship and parenting challenges, learning and communication difficulties, and cultural identity. Ms. Deshmukh has extensive experience working with clients who have experienced trauma (PTSD), loss, and are adapting to changes in their lives including separations, moves, immigration, and acculturation challenges. She has been effectively using creative approaches to join the clients and meet them at their current level of readiness to change in order to foster engagement. Ms. Deshmukh is trained in using approaches such as motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, Trauma Focused-CBT, SPACE (a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems) and play therapy. Her work is informed by attachment, behavioral activation, psychodynamic, and systems theories. 

Ms. Deshmukh works collaboratively with parents and teachers to bring positive changes to the client’s and their family’s lives. She uses multiple assessment tools to diagnose and conceptualize her client’s and family’s needs to collaboratively formulate goals to decide the direction of the treatment and track the progress. Ms. Deshmukh also provides school observations and effectively works with school staff to support her client’s needs at the school. Ms. Deshmukh has 4 years of experience of working in wrap-around model teams and working with very high needs clients. She has led a team of professionals and has provided training to her team, teachers, and parents to effectively support her clients in their natural environment such as school, home, and in the community. Ms. Deshmukh has also led group therapy for children and teens who have experienced trauma to support healing.  

Ms. Deshmukh works with school-age children, teens, and adults. 

Psychologist 

Dr. Woerner is a licensed psychologist.  She has experience working with children, adolescents, and families. Her approach is collaborative, trauma informed, and strengths-based, utilizing a variety of evidence-based practices. She utilizes cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, as well as play therapy, and is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy by PCIT International. Her areas of practice include disruptive behaviors, trauma, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), anxiety, adjustment disorder, and ADHD.

Dr. Woerner obtained her B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She earned her  Ph.D. at Alliant International University, San Diego. During her clinical training in community mental health settings, Dr. Woerner obtained extensive experience working with children who have experienced traumatic events. She is trained in TF- CBT and has utilized this evidence-based therapy with a number of children and their families. Additionally, she has five years of experience providing ABA therapy to children with ASD and two years of experience utilizing PCIT techniques to treat disruptive behavior problems in children. Dr. Woerner has provided consultation to elementary teachers on the impact of trauma on children and learning, utilizing the Neurosequential Model. She also administers IQ and emotional assessments.

Dr. Woerner works with preschool and school-age children, teens, and adults.

Psychological Associate

Dr. Thompson has experience working with children, adolescents, adults and families in school and community settings. She works from a holistic and developmental approach, striving to include relevant social, educational and developmental systems to support clients. She is passionate about supporting children and teens in various challenges related to their growth and development. She values collaboration with other professionals involved in the treatment of children and teens, and has worked with clients with a variety of presenting issues including anxiety, depression, trauma, autism, ADHD, family separation and social challenges. She uses a strengths-based approach including socially and culturally relevant evidence-based interventions to meet the unique needs o individuals. She incorporates aspects of psychodynamic, attachments, cognitive behavioral (CBT), play therapy, and dialectal behavior therapy (DBT) in her work.   

Dr. Thompson obtained her B.A. in Psychology from Claremont McKenna College and earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International University in San Francisco. She completed her internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Bay Area Psychological Services Center.  Dr. Thompson is at the last step of preparing for the licensing examination and has fulfilled all other training requirements.  

Dr. Thompson works with preschool and school-age children, teens, and adults.

Psychologist, Behavior Analyst

Dr. Singh has specialized in working with young children with autism
and their families since 2004. She is a licensed psychologist, a
doctoral-level board certified behavior analyst (BCBA-D), and is also
trained in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT). Dr. Singh’s primary
clinical interests include developmentally appropriate, behavioral
interventions and diagnostic assessments for infants, children, and
adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.  Her work is
focused on empowering parents to facilitate improvement in the lives
of their children at home, in school, and in community settings.

Dr. Singh earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of
California, Berkeley. As an undergraduate she interned at Oakland
Children’s Hospital’s Autism Intervention (CHAI) program. She earned
her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Barbara
where she received extensive training in Pivotal Response Treatment
(PRT) at the Koegel Autism Center. Dr. Singh’s professional activities
include numerous conference presentations and several training
workshops, lectures, and research publications in the field of autism.

Dr. Singh provides behavioral treatment services and intervention to
young children diagnosed with autism and their families. She also
provides comprehensive developmental and psychological evaluations. 

Marriage and Family Therapist

Mr. Santilli works with children, teens, parents, and families. He approaches his cases by providing an individualized, culturally appropriate, and holistic treatment to every client he works with through evidence-based practices. His areas of practice include anxiety (e.g. generalized anxiety, social anxiety and phobias), depression, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning disabilities, emotion regulation disorders, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, LGBTQ+ identity exploration, relationship and parenting challenges, and family changes. 

Mr. Santilli obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Oregon State University, and earned his Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute. He has six years of experience working as a school-based therapist in the Bay Area; two and a half years of which were in self-contained Special Education programs. He has been compassionately using non-judgmental and creative approaches to build rapport with clients. He meets them at their current level of emotional well-being to join their inner world, and facilitate healing and growth. His more than 500 volunteer hours at the National and Suicide Crisis lifeline have equipped Mr. Santilli with extensive experience working with clients who have experienced trauma or who are in a crisis.

Mr. Santilli intervenes with humanistic therapy, play therapy, sand tray therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, emotion-focused therapy, behavioral therapy, and art therapy. He uses various assessment tools to diagnose, and then conceptualizes his clients’ needs. In order to identify the direction of treatment, Mr. Santilli collaborates with supportive parties to formulate goals. Monitoring progress is a team effort, primarily between parents and Mr. Santilli, and includes the client when appropriate. Mr. Santilli offers to do school observations, and collaborates with school staff to support his client’s needs at school. 

In 2021, Mr. Santilli authored a children’s book, Tony’s Superhero Story, about the collateral effects of being bullied, such as mental health challenges and suicide attempts, and the eventual journey of self-acceptance, self-love, and healing with self-care activities. He has presented multiple lessons to students regarding anti-bullying and destigmatizing conversations about mental health. Additionally, he has trained teachers, parents and school board members on the topics of suicide awareness and the prevention of suicide among at-risk teenagers.

Mr. Santilli is dedicated to providing his clients a safe space that allows for the vulnerability necessary for healing and positive changes.

Patient Care Coordinator

Ashley works directly with clients as a patient care coordinator. She facilitates contact between clients and clinicians. She graduated from University of California Davis with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Her goal is to become a licensed clinical psychologist. She is very passionate about working with teens and young adults and advocating for mental health awareness.