Christine co-founded The Oakland DBT and Mindfulness Center.   She oversees the Young Adult, Couples and Family programs.   In addition to providing therapy and teaching skills, she is a sought after consultant.   She blends Somatics, Meditation, Embodiment Practices, Social Justice, the Arts, and Nature into her therapy.

In DBT she finds the benefits that a structured, goal oriented, Team and evidence based approach offers.  Often direct, sometimes playful, and always committed to compassion; she loves working in the therapy space with the tender parts of Human experience in service of Understanding, Acceptance, Growth and Change.

She tries to practice what she preaches, and structures her time to nurture her interests, personal and professional. She does her best to balance time with family, friends, creativity and nature with creating enough spaciousness to allow for Mystery and Surprise.

Heather co-founded The Oakland DBT and Mindfulness Center where she oversees the Adult program, participates in weekly clinical team meetings and teaches skills classes. She finds the mindfulness, acceptance and change-oriented approach of DBT to be life changing for many people she has worked with. Witnessing people get closer to their values, gain confidence about their life choices, have closer relationships and experience less suffering keeps her committed to this work. She is passionate about healing and wellness and in her own life is a practitioner of yoga, meditation and having down time! Heather is also a certified EFL (equine-facilitated learning) instructor and offers workshops in the greater SF Bay Area. Her therapeutic experiences with animals and love of the natural world have deeply influenced her clinical practice. Heather lives in Oakland with her husband and kids and loves to travel, especially to places where there are horses, beaches and jungles.

Alyson Barry is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Oakland DBT & Mindfulness Center. She has experience working in many different therapeutic settings over the past 14 years, including inpatient hospitals, intensive outpatient programs, community mental health, and private practice. Alyson came to DBT through her own yoga and meditation practice, which led her to seek additional training in mindfulness-based therapies such as ACT and DBT. She has been using these approaches in group and individual therapy with since 2013. Through personal experience using these skills, as well as witnessing the ways her clients have been able to transform their lives using these approaches, Alyson has become increasingly committed to sharing these skills with clients who are motivated to create change in the ways they interact with others, themselves, and the world. In her free time, Alyson enjoys travel, spending time in nature, and laughing with friends and family.

Priya is a licensed clinical social worker.. Since 2013, she has worked in various clinical settings, including community mental health, hospital, and outpatient programs. Priya’s experience also includes spending time in Vietnam studying international social work and the relationship between culture, ethnicity, and mental health. Priya is an active practitioner of mindfulness-based behavioral therapies including DBT and ACT, and has extensive training in CBT. She uses these treatment approaches in individual, family, and group therapy settings. Priya was exposed to DBT in graduate school and early in her career saw the transformative impact of how using mindfulness-based strategies can ease internal suffering, be a catalyst for change, and offer a more effective way to organize one’s self in the world. She has also seen the positive impact using these skills has had in her own life, and is strongly committed to helping clients live meaningful lives that are aligned with their values. While being a therapist plays a significant role in her life, Priya also believes in balance and gets much joy from spending time with her family, being in nature, and cuddling with her dog.

Ari is a licensed clinical social worker at the Oakland DBT and Mindfulness Center. She has worked in an array of clinical settings for over ten years, and utilizes the diversity of her experience to foster a therapeutic frame rooted curiosity and empathic regard.  She specializes in working with those looking to cultivate self-growth, increase interpersonal efficacy, and develop an affirming relationship with their internal worlds.

Ari extends a humanistic approach to her work by nourishing the whole self according to one’s intersectionality and inherent wisdom. She is trained in DBT and other treatment modalities, including CBT, existentialism, and trauma theory. She harmonizes the concepts of behaviorism and intuitiveness of relational healing, with opportunities to explore psychedelics and expanded-state work.

Ari invites you to build capacity for both processing and playfulness. She prioritizes humor and is often found in the ocean, on the dance floor, and imagining her next adventure. Ari has also worked as a licensed public school teacher in Hawai’i and documentary photographer in South Africa, and is committed to equity, inclusion, and the pursuit of social justice.

Jay is a licensed clinical social worker. He was originally intensively trained in DBT in 1998. Jay came to Oakland DBT and Mindfulness Center after serving as the Lead DBT Therapist at the National DBT Service, an adult residential progam in Takaka, New Zealand. He has practiced DBT in outpatient programs and private practice and has in depth experience as an individual and family therapist and DBT skills trainer working with adults, adolescents and families. He has been a Program Director and Executive Director at a mental health agency in Northampton, Massachusetts. In addition to training DBT in the US Puerto Rico and New Zealand, Jay has provided DBT informed treatment in schools, residential treatment and in-home services. Adding to his DBT therapy skills is intensive training in somatic experiencing, a body-based trauma treatment, as well as narrative therapy and psychodynamic treatment. Jay received his MSW from Smith School for Social Work. His first career was as a professional theatre director.

Rochelle I. Frank, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in Oakland, CA with over 25 years of experience in inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment settings in both the public and private sectors. After graduating from Wellesley College, Dr. Frank contributed to neurophysiological research at New York University School of Medicine, where she discovered her love of psychology and obtained a master’s degree at NYU before pursuing her doctorate at Syracuse University and completing her clinical training at Yale Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Frank specializes in evidence-based treatment of complex and co-occurring mood, anxiety, and traumarelated problems in adults and adolescents, and also treats high-conflict couples and families. She has received post-doctoral intensive training in dialectical behavior therapy, prolonged exposure, cognitivebehavioral analysis system of psychotherapy, and radically-open DBT, and currently holds faculty and supervisory appointments at the University of California, Berkeley, The Wright Institute, and the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Frank provides professional consultation and leads training workshops, and is a Clinical Advisor for Octave Health Group, a New York-based state-of-the art behavioral health services group that will also be coming to the Bay Area later in 2019. She is co-author of The transdiagnostic road map to case formulation and treatment planning: Practical guidance for clinical decision making (Frank & Davidson, 2014; New Harbinger), and a contributing author to S. G. Hofmann & S. C. Hayes (Eds.), Beyond the DSM (in preparation, New Harbinger). She is a past-president of the Alameda County Psychological Association, and currently is a reviewer for the American Psychological Association (publication division) and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (conference division). In addition to enjoying time with her family, Dr. Frank is an avid golfer, and a frequent beta-tester of her clinical skills while skiing and mountain biking.

Patty Gieselman, MFT is the Founder and Director of Choices Counseling & Skills and DBT Center in San Gabriel Valley. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive experience working with adults, adolescents and families in both community-based and residential settings. During her career, she has worked in the public and private sector as a clinician, consultant, trainer, program director and Vice President of Clinical Services. In addition to offering counseling services, Ms. Gieselman trains mental health professionals as a provider of continuing education courses for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Board of Registered Nursing and the American Psychological Association and has been an adjunct instructor for local colleges and universities. Patty is well known for her practical yet often whimsical approach to problem solving. Ms. Gieselman was recognized for outstanding community service in 1999 and was awarded the “Woman of Achievement” award by the YWCA for her commitment to children and families. She is DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified Clinician.

Dr. Sanno Zack is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University Medical Center. She regularly consults for DBT Programs and provides clinical supervision in DBT and other evidenced based and integrative approaches. Her passion is helping providers synthesize their own unique style and personality with the principles of evidenced based treatment. Dr. Zack trained in DBT at Stanford from 2008-2010 and completed Behavioral Tech’s Intensive Training as well as Advanced Intensive Training in DBT with Dr. Marsha Linehan and Dr. Jennifer Sayrs. Dr. Zack is Director of the Adult and Adolescent DBT Programs at Stanford and specializes in treating young adult women. She leads DBT Skills groups, works with individual clients, and is active in teaching, training, mentoring, and supervising graduate students, interns, fellows, junior faculty, and practicing clinicians in DBT and evidenced based treatment for trauma, mood, and anxiety. Dr. Zack completed her doctorate at the Pennsylvania State University, internship at Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC, and her post doctoral fellowship at Stanford. She maintains an active yoga and mindfulness practice and aspires to a down dog as fluid as that of her new rescue puppy!