Rochelle I. Frank, Ph.D.

 In addition to my private practice, I currently provide empirically supported psychological services for a private mood disorders clinic in San Francisco (www.gatewaypsychiatric.com), which specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of complex mood disorders and co-occurring psychiatric conditions.  I am on the adjunct faculty at Argosy University-San Francisco Bay Area Campus, where I teach core coursework in psychological assessment and an advanced seminar in cognitive behavioral therapy to graduate students in an APA-accredited doctoral training program in clinical psychology.  I also am an Assistant Clinical Professor in both the U. C. Berkeley Department of Psychology Clinical Science Program, and the UCSF School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry.  In addition to supervising graduate students, I provide clinical supervision to psychology and psychiatry fellows on the adolescent DBT team at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute.  My clinical research focuses on the development of patient monitoring instruments and their use in facilitating emotion regulation and enhancing self-esteem in individuals with mood disorders and other psychiatric conditions.  I am a member of the American Psychological Association, including Division 12 (Clinical Psychology) and (Section 3) the Society for a Science in Clinical Psychology, as well as Division 56 (Trauma Psychology).  I also am a member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the California Psychological Association, and currently serve as President of the Alameda County Psychological Association (www.alamedapsych.org).

I began my career over 20 years ago as a volunteer counselor on an emergency room crisis team, which fueled my passion to help others and directed me toward psychology.  Much of my professional life has been devoted to working with individuals with diagnostically complex disorders, and their families.  I provide both short- and long-term treatment interventions for a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, mood instability, self-harmful and parasuicidal behaviors, post-traumatic stress, dissociative reactions, and relationship and family conflicts.  I have worked in inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment programs, including facilitating patients' transitions across settings. I believe in a "lifelong learning" approach to professional training and expertise, and I am committed to bringing the most effective treatments available to my work with patients. 

At the New York State Department of Mental Health, I was trained and certified by Boystown to facilitate development of social and parenting skills for adolescent inpatients and their families, as well as to train and supervise other staff in delivering these services.  In 2003 I completed the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Intensive Training sequence with Dr. Marsha Linehan, Dr. Alan Fruzzetti, and other Behavioral Tech clinicians.  My additional training in this area includes Dr. Alec Miller's interactive workshops for applying DBT with adolescents and families.  DBT currently is the only treatment consistently proven in controlled research studies to reduce suicidal risk and self-harmful behaviors, and I have considerable experience doing individual DBT Therapy and Skills Training with adolescents and adults from diverse backgrounds.  I am certified by Dr. Edna Foa and associates at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Prolonged Exposure Therapy, which has extensive empirical support for its efficacy in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  In May 2009 I completed an intensive training course in Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), Dr. Jim McCullough's evidence-based treatment for chronic depression.

My training and experience in inpatient, outpatient and residential treatment settings, along with serving as the Clinical Director of an intensive care management and behavioral health services agency in the San Francisco Department of Public Health, provided extensive opportunities to work with clinically complex, multiply challenged, severely impaired individuals and families.  I have worked collaboratively with school districts, human services agencies, and juvenile probation departments to develop effective treatment and system-wide reintegration plans that target symptom reduction, positive behavioral change, and reduction of individual and family risk factors.  I also participated on numerous policy, program development, training, and continuing quality improvement committees for both the public and private sectors, which enhanced my understanding of individuals' and families' needs, contributed to my strengths-based and family-focused philosophy of care, and honed my skills in providing effective and compassionate treatment to my patients and their families.