How can we help?
We recognize that we are often the first point of contact for individuals and
families who bring a variety of psychological and behavioral problems into our
office. Experiencing psychological problems including stress, anxiety and
depression can be frightening and feel overwhelming for individuals and
families. It is hard to know where to turn and who to trust for information and
advice. While a great deal of useful information is available on the internet,
it is often hard for the consumer to evaluate the quality of that information.
Is my problem serious enough to seek professional help?
Sometimes it is hard to know whether a problem is “serious” enough to seek
professional help or whether self-help approaches might work. In general, if
your problems are significantly interfering with your ability to function at
school, at work and at home, or if you are experiencing serious symptoms such as
suicidal ideation, severe depression, panic or anxiety attacks, drug or alcohol
abuse, strange, unusual or disturbing thoughts, it is important seek
professional help. While some problems get better over time or can be resolved
by changes in your life or environment, other problems are unlikely to get
significantly better without professional help. In any case, it is important
just to get more information in order to fully understand possible treatment
options and to get professional help in evaluating the problem.
How much therapy will I need?
Some problems can be significantly improved with short-term help. Other
problems will require a longer term commitment to therapy. It is difficult to
predict the course of therapy without an in-person assessment. In your initial
assessment we will spend approximately 90 minutes with exploring the problems
you are facing and developing a treatment plan for you.
What can we offer?
Our non-profit psychology clinic offers a comprehensive assessment to help
you decide what treatment would be most helpful and to outline both the
potential benefits and risks of considering psychological therapy. Since we are
an academically based teaching and training program, our first interest is not
profit but providing service to the community and helping train psychologists.
We may not always be the best resource for you in which case we will make a
referral to the best treatment option. In some cases, clients will need both
psychological help (which we provide) and psychiatric medications (which need to
be prescribed by a psychiatrist outside of our clinic).
Who are we?
The Kurt and Barbara Gronowski Psychology Clinic is a training clinic
associated with an APA accredited program in clinical psychology. All
psychological assessment and treatment services at the clinic are provided by
graduate psychology students under the supervision of six licensed mental health
practitioners. Our general clinic offers a range of psychological services
including treatment for behavioral problems, anxiety and mood disorders. Dr.
Sandra Macias, the Assistant Clinic Director, heads up a child, adolescent and
family specialty clinic. In addition, we offer a number of specialty clinical
programs that range from treating social phobias in children, adolescents and
adults to depression and bipolar disorder.
What type of professional will see me at the clinic?
In general, you will be seen by a graduate psychology student in training
supervised by a licensed mental health professional. We carefully supervise our
students, using video tapes and review of medical charts to assure that all our
services are provided at a high standard of quality and effectiveness. For our
specialty programs you may see a licensed psychologist.
Why choose a psychology training clinic?
The main mission of our training clinic is to provide excellent psychological
services to the community while making sure our students have ample training
opportunities for development as psychologists. Students have small caseloads-
generally between 2 and 5 cases on average. We are dedicated to the excellence
of our services and provide close supervision to our students. The value of this
supervision is that it assures that your treatment will be closely monitored by
an experienced licensed mental health professional. We have a higher standard of
supervision and monitoring than is generally available if you see an independent
practitioner in the community.
What can I expect?
You will be asked to provide some initial information over the telephone to
help us evaluate if our clinic is your best treatment option. You will then be
scheduled for an initial 90 minute assessment session with a psychologist in
training.
When you arrive at the clinic about 30 minutes before your appointment you
will be asked to complete some initial information including a questionnaire.
You will be asked to review and sign a form describing important office policies
such as handling of emergencies, protection and use of confidential information
and limits to confidentiality as well as a “Notice of Privacy Policies” which
tells you about how your information can be used.
What can I expect in my initial meeting?
In the initial session your therapist will get to know you, try to answer any
questions you have and will review basic assessment and psychotherapy procedures
and expectations. A part of this initial discussion will be about client
confidentiality and the legal limits to protected confidential information.
After two to three initial meetings your therapist will summarize the
problems you have been discussing and will discuss possible treatment options
for you. We are interested in a collaborative relationship with you in which we
try to decide together what kind of treatment would be best for you. However,
not everyone will be referred for continuing therapy at the clinic. We make
decisions on what we believe will be best for the client.
What is “Evidence Based” psychological treatment?
We are dedicated to providing “evidence-based” psychological treatment. What
does this mean? This means that we use the most effective approaches to
treatment based upon the best scientific evidence available. As an academic and
research center associated with the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, we
keep up to date on the newest and most effective treatments available. We
specifically train our students to use these treatments through classroom, work,
didactic materials and supervision.
Do you use standardized assessments?
Another example of the value of being seen by a psychology training clinic is
our use of standardized assessment instruments. Standardized assessments at the
beginning of therapy and periodically through the course of therapy help us
track your progress. In addition, we are implementing a formal science-based
approach to delivering effective psychotherapy called “Systematic Treatment
Selection” which allows us to systematically evaluate problems and develop a
match between your problems and the most effective known treatments.
What is the cost for psychological services?
Sometimes the cost for
assessing and treating mental health disorders can be prohibitive for families.
We offer a moderate cost program with a sliding scale fee and an average session
cost of $45.00.
Where are you located?
We would like to welcome you to our new location at 5150 El Camino Real in
Los Altos. With over 15 years of experience serving Santa Clara County, our
clinic specializes in providing high quality evidence-based psychological care.
We provide a range of mental health assessment and treatment services for
children, adolescents and their families at moderate cost.
Need more information?
Find directions to our offices on the Contact Page. Please review information
about the range of psychological services provided at our clinic on our Home
Page. Our office hours are 12-8:00 Monday through Thursdays. Some appointments
are also available on Fridays 10:00 to 3:00. |
