About Us

Clearwater is a well-respected outpatient mental health clinic in the Bay Area that specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), integrative trauma interventions, and formal assessments for all age groups.

We were founded in 2004 by Sharon Witkin, Ph.D. and Sally Francis, Ph.D. The original  clinic was located in Oakland and focused on helping clients who qualified for services through the state-run Victim Witness Fund. We worked with English and Spanish-speaking adults, children, and families who were struggling with symptoms of trauma.

In 2007, we opened our formal assessment clinic. We offered evaluations primarily for learning disabilities and attention disorders. In 2008, a few members of the Clearwater staff began to incorporate DBT principles into their trauma sessions. We were amazed by the positive and lasting impact DBT was making on clients’ lives. In 2009, a small group of enthusiastic clinicians formed a DBT team at Clearwater and participated in formal, intensive DBT training. 

Our clinic is now located in Orinda and is co-owned by Karen Erickson, LMFT, Jocelin Saks, Ph.D., and Erika Swanson, Ph.D. Clearwater continues to offer comprehensive outpatient DBT for individuals and families. In addition to offering adherent DBT, we also remain dedicated to our original commitment of providing excellent trauma-informed care. Many of our clinicians offer a variety of integrative trauma techniques such as EMDR, DBT-PE, sensorimotor therapy, and trauma-informed stabilization treatment (TIST) developed by Janina Fisher, Ph.D. 

Clearwater’s assessment clinic continues to offer evaluations for learning and attention disorders. In addition, we have expanded our assessment services to provide evaluations for autism spectrum disorder and more general psychological challenges. You can read more about our assessment services in the corresponding section of the website.

At Clearwater, we are passionate about training the next generation of mental health providers, and offer many training opportunities for students and licensed clinicians in our DBT and assessment tracks. We have trained clinicians from a variety of schools and universities including UC Berkeley, Columbia University’s School of Social Work, the Wright Institute, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and Saybrook University. 

The Clearwater community prioritizes equity in access to psychological support.  Our team and staff remain committed to working with the broadest possible client population, and strive to provide services that align with our values of upholding anti-oppression and justice for those who have often been marginalized or excluded, including BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, neurodivergent folks, and those living with disabilities. In acknowledgement that gaining the capacity to offer justice-informed clinical services is a lifelong undertaking, we continue to work individually and as a team towards this aim by participating in critical dialogue and ongoing training and consultation with leaders in these areas.  With clients, we engage in a transparent and collaborative process that supports people in reflecting on why they’re seeking services, creating reasonable goals, and working together to achieve them.