New Oakland Family Centers

"Since counseling is dependent on the therapists, this is not a blanket recommendation for NOFC but a review of my family's experience. Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) is for the people for whom regular counseling just has not been effective. Two of our children (one adult, one teen) have been in DBT counseling, one for 3 years, one for 1, and I myself have been in for about six months. Lisa, Fadra, and Deanna are each awesome for completely different reasons. If you've got a kid who pours kerosene all over their life and yours and sets everything on fire, regularly (ERs, police stations, rehab, if this is you, you know the drill), you want Lisa and NOW ! If you have a kid who could become that kid or is the sibling of that kid but seems okay at the moment, you want Fadra and NOW! And if you're a Christian parent (even if you're not) and have kids who have poured kerosene all over the place and are looking at you, eye twitching, holding lit matches, just daring you to try to parent them, you want Deanna and NOW! Lots of laughter, lots of tears, but most of all: SKILLS. How the heck do you parent or allow yourself to be parented when everybody's emotional thermometer is at 120 degrees?! Bring it down. Bring. It. Down. But HOW?! Exactly. DBT Skills. For extremes. Borderline personality disorders, PTSD, the like. There are required group sessions that are more like classes than support groups. Mindfulness, emotional regulation, relationship repair, how to feel your feelings without doing anything rash. I highly, highly recommend these three. Again, I only know NOFC as the building these three are in, so I cannot give a review of NOFC in general. Reading other reviews I can see that not all experiences are alike."

"I completed the Outpatient Day Program after being inpatient and started going to DBT. At first I was going only on Saturday but when I learned there was also a group on Tuesday's, I started attending that day as well. I have depression, anxiety, PTSD and extreme suicidal ideations and can say with certainty that the DBT groups are the only reason I'm still alive. The support of the people I have met in the day program and the group, not to mention the therapist hosting DBT have literally been saving my life each week, as my suicidal ideations never leave my mind for an instant. I am literally living my life one minute at a time, ready at any moment to end it. Lisa is phenomenal, both as an individual therapist and as a group leader. I feel that her DBT groups let us all have a voice and save each and every one of us by teaching us the coping skills that most of us desperately need just to make it through the day. Lisa instills in us that we are worth all the work it takes to make us whole and hand to God, I don't know what would become of me if I didn't have DBT."

"I have participated in Lisa’s DBT class for over a year. To say that it is a great class is the world’s biggest understatement. Lisa is a highly experienced, effective, and compassionate teacher. She is a masters prepared clinician with several specialties. She is a wonderful listener and has a great sense of humor. I have been through the curriculum three times now (my choice) and I learn so much at each class. My group of about 50, is comprised of mostly parents, who come to DBT in the midst of some family crisis. The feelings of isolation and fear that we bring to the group are met with understanding and support from Lisa and the other participants. The material that Lisa presents is challenging. Sure, you can learn the concepts of DBT on your own, but since we are building skills, the reading material, activities and discussions that accompany each module are at the heart of DBT. Our group is large, but Lisa knows every member. She knows their name, their family, their issues. Lisa has created a safe space where everyone’s opinions are valued. We can say what we want without fear of being judged. We feel a sense of belonging to a community of supportive people. DBT has literally changed my life and the life of my family. My husband and my children have also done DBT with Lisa. I am amazed at how quickly my children learned and implemented the DBT skills. They learned them much quicker than my husband and I did! DBT doesn’t melt away your problems, but it makes you more aware of why the problems exist, and gives you the tools to communicate more effectively with the goal of resolving conflicts and getting your needs met. I spend more time listening, empathizing and honoring my children and their opinions. In turn, they are more respectful and more pleasant to be around. My home is much more peaceful now, and we have many more moments where we actually enjoy being together. This change in our family life did not happen overnight. It takes time to learn and practice a whole new and more effective way to communicate, and I’m still learning from Lisa and the other participants. Fadra is another facilitator who has trained under Lisa, and helps to run the group. She also teaches the teen group. Fadra enriches our discussions by bringing in the teen perspective, which is so relevant for us parents. Fadra is funny, smart, and very skilled. She is also my son’s therapist and he genuinely loves her. He has been highly resistant to therapy and prior to Fadra, had burned through a half dozen therapists over the past couple of years. Fadra has such a great rapport with the teens, and she has been highly effective in getting my son to open up and talk about his issues. I am so grateful for the DBT program, for Lisa and Fadra, and for my fellow participants, some of whom have become good friends. My only regret is that I didn’t find DBT sooner."

"The providers at New Oakland have gone above and beyond to provide me and my family with excellent care. I am so grateful to have been given the support and tools I need to navigate crises and my own trauma. Both their face to face PHP and outpatient DBT therapy programs are effective and supportive. I would recommend this New Oakland to everyone."

"Be very careful with this place and avoid giving them money upfront. We used this center last fall and were billed about $850 upfront even though the services were approved by insurance. Upon reviewing my explanation of benefits later on, I found that my patient responsibility was only about $140. I called New Oakland several times to try to understand why and get a detailed bill. I called Monday, was transferred to billing and left a voicemail. I called Tuesday, and the call service rep told me to expect an email with the detailed bill and phone call by EOD (neither was received). On Wednesday I called and said I'd dispute the charges if I didn't hear back. I got a call back from the billing department within minutes. They acknowledged that I had been overbilled by about $650 and that I should expect a refund. Apparently the holdup was that they were going back and forth with my insurance on one of the claims. I think it's shady that they collected so much upfront and that no one reached out to me regarding the overpayment. I don't know what would have happened if I had not caught this difference myself. Other than that, the experience was mediocre. All the employees were rather unfriendly, and it didn't feel like a place of healing. I don't feel that our family member who used the services benefited much. I don't recommend using New Oakland."