More understanding.
Stronger connections.
A better way forward.

Our son was diagnosed with several behavioral disorders and we were referred out for PCIT Therapy. He was having issues at both school and home that led us to seek help through our pediatrician. I found Bay Area Family Therapy Services as a recommendation through the behavioral and developmental pediatrician that we worked with at Stanford. We started PCIT with Keith in August of 2020, and within literally two weeks we began to see a difference in our Son's behavior. We did weekly appointments via video conference, and here we are in May of 2021 and the difference in behavior is unbelievable. The frequency and duration of his tantrums has gone down to almost zero, and he seems to but all over just more happy and adjusted. Keith is kind, and incredibly thorough in his training of us (the parents) and in the play therapy with us and our son. Additionally, we were able to get our daughter involved in some of the weekly sessions so that she was acclimated to the parenting approach the PCIT teaches as well. My husband and I were so desperate from some tools that help to bring peace back to our home. Keith and Bay Area Family Therapy Services have absolutely provided that to us. Most recently at a Parent Teacher Conference, our son's teachers commented on the huge difference and improvement that they had seen in his behavior and his attitude towards learning. They asked us if we would put together some information for them that detailed what we had been doing hat home, so that they could continue the approach at school. For me, this was the biggest win of all. I will be forever grateful to Keith and Bay Area Family Therapy Services for helping to save our family dynamic and improving the wellness and happiness of us all.

Saw Dr. Christa Cusimano for a 2 part Adult ADHD assessment. She was friendly, kind, patient and validating throughout the entire evaluation/diagnosis process, welcoming questions and making me feel at ease immediately. She was able to make time for me in her schedule on short notice and quickly scheduled me in for the secondary diagnosis session as well. Very grateful for my experience and couldn't have asked for a better clinician to work with. I highly recommend Dr Cusimano to anyone needing help with ADHD!

Working with Keith was a game changer for our family. We were struggling with frequent meltdowns and defiance from our 5YO and had no idea how to handle these episodes. Someone recommended we try PCIT, so we did some research and found Bay Area Family Therapy Services. It turns out, PCIT was mostly about training my husband and me and giving us the tools we needed when our daughter was melting down. We realized we were out of our depth and didn't know how to communicate effectively with her, especially when emotions were running high. The most surprising thing to us was that following Keith's plan, things actually did get better, and quickly, which we weren't expecting. The positive effects have rippled across our family and have improved our relationship not only with our daughter, but our younger son and each other. If you're struggling or feeling hopeless, I highly recommend Keith's services.

I worked with Dr. Christa Cusimano for an Adult ADHD assessment. Dr. Cusimano is very knowledgeable and helped me learn a lot about myself. She genuinely cares and would give very helpful comments, insights, and recommendations. All the way from the first meeting to the last she has shown nothing but professionalism, understanding, and support. She made me feel that the difficulties I faced/am facing are heard and that I'm not alone in this uphill battle. She is also very responsive and accommodating, adjusting timetables to fit my schedule, and responding to emails very promptly. I am very grateful to have met Dr. Cusimano. And I would definitely recommend anyone needing help to talk to Dr. Cusimano. Trust me you won't regret it.

I was recently diagnosed with adult ADHD and I was blessed to find Keith Kapash MFT who provides excellent support for both my practical and psychological needs. He is an excellent listener and has given me so many helpful tools and strategies that have helped me organize my life and reduce anxiety. He has helped me work through many of my emotional/psychological stumbling blocks with cognitive behavioral therapy. I always get the sense that he genuinely cares about me which was really was important to me in selecting a therapist. My only challenge has been that our sessions are not covered by my insurance so I am not able to see him as often as I would like. I wholeheartedly recommend Keith to anyone who needs support like me. I am moving to the east coast this summer and i'm pretty worried about finding someone with his unique combination of expertise and care.

Dr. Christa Cusimano is a licensed educational psychologist who has played a vital role in improving my understanding of my learning difficulties. With her expert guidance, I underwent comprehensive testing and a thorough psychoeducational assessment, which included evaluations for ADHD and Dyslexia. Furthermore, she assisted me in obtaining the necessary documentation for standardized testing accommodations for college. Dr. Cusimano's great communication skills and attentiveness facilitated the process. She customized the tests to address my specific concerns, providing valuable insights and recommending suitable resources and accommodations. Her guidance has the potential to significantly enhance my educational journey as I pursue higher education, positively impacting the trajectory of my life.

We were referred to Keith for PCIT from our pediatric psychologist at UCSF after receiving an ADHD, Sensory Processing Difference, and Disruptive Behavior diagnosis. We were struggling with getting our daughter to listen, follow directions, and fighting us tooth and nail on absolutely everything. We embarked on a series of weekly sessions over Zoom for several months. We had an initial consult, then a training session, and from there we both played with our daughter while Keith observed, corrected, and coached our interactions. We saw a HUGE improvement before we even got through the first of three phases. Our daughter engaged with us more, responded positively to feedback, and we generally had a calmer, more enjoyable life experience. We also started getting positive feedback and noticeable change from her kinder teacher and her after care. The next two phases were slight variations to the first phase while practicing learned behaviors from the first and second phases. This therapy is intense, but it is absolutely 100% worth it. We took it seriously, practiced the things we need to practice, and ultimately it completely improved our daughter's behavior, our home life, and our marriage! Keith is great. He's kind, knowledgeable, patient, and my daughter was always very excited for our sessions. I highly recommend PCIT and Keith.

I had a referral to have an assessment for ADHD, because after some life losses I was struggling with focus and memory. I had been working with someone over my feelings of grief stemming from life losses. She thought that some of the things that I was struggling with in my grief might be undiagnosed ADHD. I was referred to BAFTS's website, and to their online assessment tool. She also suggested that I make an appointment with Christa Cusimano to do an assessment for ADHD. Can I say that working with Christa, starting with the initial assessment, gave me a whole new sense of myself? It may sound over the top, but even just filling out the self report form and other questionnaires helped me see that the way I think and organize is not bad, it is just different. And I've learned how to compensate for my differences, but when I'm under stress, it was just difficult or impossible to keep compensating the way I had previously. I've learned that girls and boys present ADHD differently, so sadly girls/women are often undiagnosed or diagnosed later in life. While I wish I had had this assessment while I was still in school, I'm still glad to have finally had it now. Christa taught me so much about myself, just in the questions she asked me in our first appointment, as well as in the feedback she gave me. During her interview of my life experiences in school and work, she helped me see how bright I was, in learning to compensate for my memory and thinking challenges. Her encouraging and explanatory comments gave me confidence that I will be able to improve my ability to recall and remember. I'm learning to appreciate that not all thinking needs to be linear or the same. I understand she does assessments for both adults and children, so if you are looking to get an ADHD assessment for either an adult or child, I really recommend Christa. She is a person who listens thoughtfully, and helps you understand that you are not stupid, but just gifted differently. Thank you, Christa!

I can't say enough about what a positive experience we had working with Keith. We've seen a complete turn-around in our six-year-old son's behavior. He was having frequent temper tantrums, using threatening language, and was often non-compliant with things we needed him to do. Special events like holidays or family vacations felt like time bombs, and even everyday dinners were frequently challenging. That has basically stopped. He still has an occasional bad attitude, as all kids his age do, but he hasn't had a tantrum in months. He's much kinder to his parents, his sister, and kids at school, and we have very few power struggles any more. Keith is incredibly knowledgeable, clear, and patient. He was extremely helpful and easy to work with. Truly, my only regret is that we didn't find out about PCIT earlier!

I worked with Keith Kapash remotely for several months to address my six-year-old son's hitting and kicking. The in-the-moment coaching really helped me learn the techniques. I highly recommend reaching out to him if you are a parent searching for a way to address problematic behavior in that age group.

Keith came into our life through a school recommendation for our daughter. We moved across the country during COVID, and it turned our family's world upside down. Our daughter was struggling to adjust in school and to follow instructions at home. We found ourselves in a cycle of power struggles about so many things in a day. Keith assured us that if we put in the hard work with PCIT, we would see changes in our daughter's behavior. This proved to be true within just a couple of sessions. We started to see increased focus and concentration as well as more positive behaviors right away. As the sessions continued, this new parenting style started to become second nature and we were able to call on newly learned discipline techniques when needed. Keith worked patiently with us as we learned how to speak, interact and play with our daughter in constructive and positive ways that would encourage compliance from her. PCIT is hard work for the parents, but Keith simplified the concepts from the beginning and coached us through scenarios that continued to come up along the way. As a result of his guidance, we feel like our relationship with our daughter has been strengthened. It's a great feeling to say that we spend more time bonding with her and less time in a power struggle over everyday tasks. Her behavior at school has also improved. The communication techniques and discipline strategies we learned from him are very effective! We are forever grateful to Keith for helping us through a difficult transition for our family. He is patient, kind, and an expert at conducting PCIT. To a family seeking to help their child's behavior improve, I can't recommend Keith and the PCIT approach enough.

My spouse and I started working with Bay Area Family Therapy Services after feeling helpless and overwhelmed in how to best respond to our 3 year old's challenging behaviors over a long period of time. PCIT was helpful almost immediately and has equipped us with some very effective strategies we feel confident in now. I also appreciated that the sessions were focused, hands on, and fairly concrete, as it meant my spouse and I both felt like we had the bandwidth to take this on right now. My kiddo is still challenging but we no longer feel helpless -- I am armed with several tried and true skills that we know work. Thanks, Keith!!

We worked with Keith Kapash for 6 months weekly over zoom for PCIT. Our two daughters used to try and kill each other every minute they were awake (we couldn't leave them alone ever even for 10 seconds) and we were at our last nerves. Our older daughter, age 5, had out of control tantrums that were so severe / violent and would last 45 minutes or more each time. Looking back I think she would have qualified as ODD. We had taken several parenting classes, read books, but nothing was working. Then I did research and found out about PCIT and found Keith's practice. Keith gave us multiple training sessions and tools that worked pretty immediately within the first few weeks. We then worked with him over zoom and with an earpiece so he could coach us through how to be an effective child play therapist. It seems a little weird to do over zoom at first but it worked better than taking them to an office since they were in their normal environment with us leading the activities. Keith saw first hand many explosive episodes and walked us through positive yet firm ways to diffuse them with limits. Fast forward 6 months - Our daughters now play extremely well together and just love being together. Our older daughter has blossomed into a kind and empathic child. They also listen to us on the first, or second request 90% of the time. We aren't repeating ourselves 10x to get them to listen anymore. We are soo happy with the results and we would recommend this to any parents going through similar challenges. Happy to be a reference as well if you message me.

Keith helped us work with our child using PCIT (parent child interactive therapy). It was very helpful. The sessions with Keith helped us realize that we had lots to improve on as parents and that we were not necessarily giving instructions well or consistently holding her accountable when she was not following directions. The sessions for us helped us realize what our child needed from us and what we needed to do to reinforce that for certain things she would need to follow directions or there would be consequences. Our relationship with our child improved dramatically and I think because our daughter could feel it too, there was a lot less threatening if you don't do this, then blah blah blah and a lot less yelling. Would definitely recommend.

PCIT was Keith was immensely helpful for our son. I was skeptical at first about how well virtual therapy would work for a preschooler, but given that the focus is really on supporting the parents to do the in person work, it worked really well. My husband and I now have a common language to use with disciplining and setting boundaries with our child and he responded very well.

"Mr Keith" was hugely helpful in helping us better understand, connect and work with our strong-willed 6 year old. I described the program to another parent facing similar patterns of behavior and I called the difference "night and day." Mr Keith helped us first connect with our child in a way that resonated with him. After those patterns and foundations were set, we were coached by Mr Keith in ways to set boundaries in ways that were *much* more effective than what we were doing. We started to see our child willingly do activities (eg, end screentime, clear table after dinner, etc) that used to end up with giant arguments and consequences that seemed to escalate. The tools that Mr Keith taught our family has helped us all solve problems together and make the days more pleasant. Our only regret that we wish would have started the program sooner!

Working with Keith has been a pleasure. Our kids have become much more responsive when we ask them to do something and polite. Thanks! Keith

This program was instrumental in helping us parents better understand our child and their behavior and also how our behavior and means of communicating impacts them. Very eye opening and helpful to us individually and as a family. I recommend this type of therapy and this business to anyone who is struggling with difficult behaviors of their child, be it ADHD or something else.

When we approached Keith about starting PCIT, our family was in a difficult place. Our three-year-old was displaying oppositional tendencies, unwilling to cooperate with the smallest asks. He was regularly hitting and biting his older sibling and prone to fits of screaming. It was a sad situation and the future seemed bleak for us. Enter Keith. Slowly but surely, he led us through his process, and we built the skills we needed to help our kid and become better parents. Our kid is gentler, kinder, sweeter, and he now happily complies when we give him directives. It's like night and day, comparing against when we started this process. Working with Keith has changed our lives for the better and we recommend him anyone who is struggling to build a more positive kid-parent relationship. Thank you Keith, we are so grateful for you!

As I start to write this tears of gratitude are running down my cheeks. I just remarried and our new family needed help integrating. I was already struggling with how do I parent my 4 year old, I was raised in a strict home with the motto "spare the rod, spoil the child". I did not want to pass on the lineage of abuse that I suffered and yet I did not know how to set boundaries that enabled me to be a consistent loving parent. With that said I was initially resistant to some of the terminology that Kieth used such as; giving directives, compliance..... I gave in to my resistance and we followed Kieths invitations and suggestions, our family has become so much closer over the months. I'm not exhausted at the end of the day with shame and discourgament wrapped up in resentfullness due to our family interactions anymore. Our home is filled with so much more ease and space to connect with one another. They say parenting does not come with a handbook, however there are wonderful mentors out there and Keith is one of them. Thank you Keith our family is forever grateful.

Keith Kapash at Bay Area PCIT was instrumental in helping us work through a challenging time with our young son. Through weekly sessions, the fundamental therapy itself, and Keith's guidance, we were able to achieve a stronger, more positive bond with our son and are more equipped to deal with rough patches on an ongoing basis. Having a toolset for dealing with challenges and creating an ongoing positive relationship is extraordinarily helpful for any parent who has a child with a challenging temperament. I'd strong recommend the PCIT process as well as Keith to any parent who needs help and guidance.

I don't know why PCIT isn't more known. It's an indispensable tool. We are so thankful to Keith for guiding us into a better approach about how to interact with our child. It simple, concrete, and very effective.

This program really helped our entire family. Six months after finishing it and we are all much happier, taking better care of each other and really enjoying our time together. I can't recommend it highly enough! It's made a difference in all of our interactions within and outside the family.

The PCIT program and Keith's direction were invaluable for our family. After years of frustration and then realizing that our inherent parenting techniques were not working, PCIT taught us methods to engage our child, and not continue to make the same mistakes. We feared a future life of having a teenager that we could not communicate with, where every conflict would turn into a battle.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend find Dr K through search engine (my friend was probably sick of hearing how my child was behaving). The lessons that Dr K gave my husband and I are worth every penny. I wish I had known about PCIT sooner. This isn't like how you think "therapy" is. They are lessons on how to interact with your child. Your child will have fun spending time with you. The support from Dr K also helped me feel that I wasn't alone or going crazy. I wish I had done this sooner rather than wait till my wits end. PCIT gave us a different perspective on how to handle situations with our child. I am thankful for PCIT and Dr K.

I'm an early childhood educator in San Francisco and I have witnessed Keith do outstanding things with the children and families he serves in the bay area. The connection and relationship he helps build between parent and child is wonderful and produces amazing results with both child and parent.

Working with Keith was so helpful for our family. The ability to get in the moment coaching, feedback, and support was far more effective than any class we could take or book we could have read. The results have been apparent not only to our family, but friends and school faculty as well. We really recommend Bay area PCIT.

Working with Keith was so helpful for our family. The ability to get in the moment coaching, feedback, and support was far more effective than any class we could take or book we could have read. The results have been apparent not only to our family, but friends and school faculty as well. We really recommend Bay area PCIT.

Great help to my family. Learned alot in an encouraging, results-oriented environment. It's worth the time and money investment.