Children, teens, and young adults.
A child is never struggling in isolation. Dr. Yu's training as a child and adolescent psychiatrist means looking at the whole system: the young person, the family, and the school or community they are trying to fit into.
Who this is for
Families often reach out when:
- A child's mood, anxiety, or behavior has changed in a way that is not resolving on its own.
- School has become a source of conflict, avoidance, or falling performance.
- A teenager is withdrawing, and it is genuinely unclear what is developmentally ordinary and what is not.
- A previous evaluation produced a diagnosis that never quite fit, or a medication that never quite worked.
- A young adult is stalling at the threshold of independence, whether college, a first job, or moving out, and cannot say why.
- Parents are exhausted, in disagreement with each other, and looking for a clear read on what is actually happening.
Dr. Yu works with patients from early childhood through adulthood, and has particular affection for transitional-age youth who are in the middle of becoming their adult selves.
A whole-systems evaluation.
Understanding a young person means understanding the environments they move through and the relationships that hold them.
The child
Current concerns, medical and developmental history, temperament, and direct observation, combined with standardized questionnaires to ground the picture in something measurable rather than impressionistic.
The family
How the family is functioning as a whole, how parent-child relationships are being affected, and what patterns are being carried across generations. Parents are participants in the work, not bystanders to it.
School & community
How the young person is, or is not, fitting into their school and community environment, and what accommodations or changes would actually help. Dr. Yu actively collaborates with schools and other therapists.
What the first appointments look like.
For children and adolescents, the initial assessment is normally two appointments: a 1.5-hour appointment collecting and reviewing information from both parents and the young person, followed by a 45-minute appointment where Dr. Yu presents her assessment and recommendations.
Whether this is your family's first meeting with a mental health professional or your hundredth, you receive a thorough evaluation and direct feedback covering diagnoses, strengths, challenges, and concrete next steps.
Treatment that follows
Treatment may involve psychotherapy, medication, parent work, or a combination. Dr. Yu believes psychotherapy is a vital part of overall mental health treatment and recommends that all of her patients receive some form of it. If your child already has a therapist, she can provide medication management while collaborating with them.
- Parent support and training: often the highest-leverage intervention available with younger children.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression and anxiety.
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
- Psychodynamic psychotherapy, understanding a young person's needs through attachment-based and relational lenses.
Standardized measures are used throughout to track whether treatment is actually working, rather than relying on impression alone.
Currently accepting new patients.
In person in Noe Valley, or by telehealth anywhere in California.