Finding the ​best available ​therapist​​— ​​the one most capable of addressing your specific problems ​— turns out to be a surprisingly difficult task.  This is because so many different factors ​must be considered when making the choice​:  

Yes, getting ​diagnosed is important.  Here are some examples of how the right and wrong diagnoses can 'make or break' your recovery:

You wouldn't let a bone doctor treat your lung problems, would you?  

The same goes for mental health therapy: If you have PTSD and it was treated as though it was regular anxiety, your recovery might take a very long time (if it occurs at all).  You might become discouraged, conclude that therapy doesn't work and quit ​— never having figured out that the right treatment that actually could provide you with effective symptom relief was available the whole time.  

Here are some reasons why just getting 'any therapy' is a bad idea:

The answer is simple: 

Get the right therapist!

Unfortunately, getting the right therapist isn't easy.  Finding the right therapist for you is really difficult, even if you know what you are looking for.  

The journey to getting the right therapist can be quite exhausting and time-consuming: 

​At this point, you might be thinking: 

Frankly, you're right. 

Selecting the best therapist that meets your needs is a very complicated task.  It may feel like you'll never figure it out, despite devoting yourself to a lot of research and legwork. 

But lucky for you, you don't need to do the research and legwork ...

... because there's a better way.  

​The straightforward solution to end the dark days, overcome the invisible barriers, and win back your life by discovering the right therapist and the right therapy.  

At this time, TherapyFilter is only offered to adults ages 18 and older.  My training has been exclusively with adults, and it is outside my scope of practice to offer child assessments.  

Yes, ​Absolutely​!  ​All client-facing professional psychology services, including the TherapyFilter assessment service​, are mandated ​​by law and ethics to be kept entirely private and confidential. There are a​ few exceptions to this rule, which I will inform you about when we do​ 'Informed Consent' at the beginning of our TherapyFilter engagement.  All of our communication and all of my record-keeping and report-writing will take place using HIPAA-compliant encrypted technologies.

It's common to display​ testimonials from past satisfied customers ​when offering a service ​online. ​​Testimonials ​act as ​'social proof', helping ​new customers to feel more confident about purchasing the service​ because they are in 'good company'.

Psychologists are prohibited from asking clients to provide testimonials in section 5.05 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.  ​

​TherapyFilter is simple and easy for you to use.  All you'll have to do is click the Google Meet link I’ll send you to get started with our video interviews.

I am a Licensed Psychologist in California (PSY25695).​

I graduated from the UCSD/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology after completing a Pre-doctoral Psychology Internship at the San Francisco VA. I completed a Postdoctoral Clinical Psychology Fellowship at the Yale Psychiatric Institute.

​I have been in private practice in Alameda, CA (near Oakland and San Francisco) since 2013.  I have been ​a member of the National Register of Health Service Psychologists (a ​​psychology credentialing organization​​) since 2012.  At other points in my career:

When it comes to finding a therapist to address your mental health issues, you can’t afford to rely on recommendations from Google or​ people who aren’t themselves mental health experts. ​That​ would be like gambling with your mental health​!  ​You ​want ​to identify the right expert ​therapist who can provide the right therapy ​fitted to your needs; not just the first ​therapist you find.

​TherapyFilter gives you confidence and peace of mind that you're doing it right, and it's convenient too. An experienced, licensed psychologist (me, Dr. Dombeck) who knows your exact problem background and diagnoses​ will do the work necessary to match you to equally experienced and licensed therapists in your area who have the specific skills and credentials to help you solve your specific problems.

The total cost for TherapyFilter is $995.  This total cost is split ​into three parts ​so that you'll never pay for incomplete work.  ​​The initial $3​​95 payment occurs ​during our diagnostic interview.  ​The second $300 payment occurs during ​our feedback interview.  ​A final $300 payment is made when I deliver your therapists report.  

​Payments ​are made with your credit card using​ IvyPay, a secure and private payment app ​designed for use by health care professionals.  IvyPay protects your privacy ​by having you enter your card information directly into their secure smartphone app. Psychtools ​never sees your card information.  

TherapyFilter is a professional psychological assessment process that takes multiple hours to complete. It involves clinical interviewing, test interpretation, customized report writing, a feedback session, and an extended communications process where the best therapists for you are identified.  

You come away from the process with a clear understanding of your diagnoses, recommended readings, knowledge about what types of therapy are best suited to address your problems (and in what order you should consider addressing them), and a short list of ​recommended specialist psychotherapists ​in your area who are best suited to help you.

It’s an involved and complex process to get you the crucial information you need to have the best chance of quickly recovering ​your quality of life​.

TherapyFilter is only offered on a Fee-For-Service basis.  This means that you directly pay me a fee in exchange for the clinical service I provide.  

Your insurance company may partially reimburse you for 'out of network' services.  Let me know if this is the case, and I will generate a 'superbill' for you containing the appropriate service codes which you may submit to your health insurance for reimbursement. ​

You need to know this:

Health insurance companies generally seek to limit the amount of mental health care you can get. They do this by restricting which therapists you can see, by limiting the number of therapy sessions you can have, and by limiting how much money ​therapists can charge for each session. As a result, the best therapists generally don't take insurance and only work based on a Fee For Service basis.

With TherapyFilter, my goal is to connect you to the best specialist therapist available in your area to help you fix your problems.  It is almost certainly the case that the therapists I identify for you will require that you pay their Fee For Service rate.  

​It's unfortunate but true: If you cannot afford to pay Fee For Service rates to get the best therapy available, then my premium TherapyFilter service may not be for you.  

At the conclusion of TherapyFilter, you will have the following documents in your possession:

At your request, and with your written permission, I can also contact your therapist and give them my findings directly to best insure they are oriented and up to speed for your case.

TherapyFilter ​completion times vary, but average about 3 weeks duration.  The first diagnostic interview ​​takes ​90 to 120 minutes to complete.  After​ the first interview and testing are completed, ​an additional ​3 to ​5 business days ​are required to ​make sense of the ​​data and write the reports.  The delivery of diagnostic findings meeting ​​runs ​​about 60 minutes.  The delivery of the custom therapist short list​ will take​ approximately another 2 weeks.

Yes. Finding the right specialist therapists equipped to handle your specific problems and matching your preference as closely as possible takes a long time.

Though ​TherapyFilter​ does take some time to complete, it's important to remember that you don't have to do anything during most of this time.  It's the difference between driving to work yourself (stuck in traffic!) ​and having a chauffeur do the driving for you.  ​I’​m doing the heavy lifting of finding the right specialists for you so that you don't have to do it yourself.   ​

Each specialist on my shortlist is trusted and vetted by me. They’re licensed, reputable and active professionals from reputable training programs who have the ​specific skills ​required to address your specific needs.

I select therapists for their ability to provide you the right therapies.  I also work to ensure that they will fit as many of your preferences as possible:

Rest assured, n​o therapist appearing on your list will ever have paid me for the privilege of being there.  Such 'pay-to-play' behavior is explicitly banned ​in Section 6.07 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.  I select therapists on their merits and only on their merits.  ​