Arlene Berman, LCSW

When I was pregnant, I got really, really depressed. I’d never heard about prenatal depression (I’d heard of post-​partum depression, but no one ever talks about prenatal depression!). It didn’t help that I was sick throughout the pregnancy, and you just never know how a person will react to this kind of thing.
Anyway, I sought counseling privately (outside of my HMO Kaiser) and at $ 150 per session, we were hurting. Plus, I didn’t feel like the sessions were all that helpful to me (I felt like the counselor was a cheerleader, rah, rah, not my style, not providing any useful insights).
A friend recommended Arlene Berman. I called around and eventually found that I was able to get some one-​on-​one sessions at Kaiser for a $ 20 co-​pay per session (who’d have thought?!). I was only approved to come in about 1x every 2 weeks, but I found seeing Arlene very, very helpful. She was really insightful and had the right personality for me.
I was only approved for about 8 sessions per year (working around Kaiser’s red tape felt a bit stressful), but we managed to get more somehow (working with the calendar change).
I felt lucky to be able to get the support I needed without going broke in the process. I highly recommend Arlene Berman. Outside of Kaiser, I think Arlene would be a 5 star therapist (she does have a private practice in SF, but I haven’t seen her privately). Within the bureaucratic Kaiser system, I give 4 stars for the limited and restricted access.
Kaiser mental health mostly provides group therapy (which I haven’t ever tried, and I’m sure can be instructive and beneficial to many). Sometimes one-​on-​one work is indicated, and I’m grateful that it helped me through a very rough time.