Esmael Darman, LPCC

Education – M.B.B.S. (Bachelor’s Degree in General Medicine) from Herat School of Medicine in Afghanistan, and a Master’s Degree (Fulbright Scholar) in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Professional - I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC #6633) with over 15 years of experience working with diverse populations of adults with a wide variety of issues ranging from mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and co-occurring disorders both in outpatient and inpatient settings, including hospital, community-based agencies, voluntary and involuntary programs, and private pay. I have worked with culturally diverse populations, including Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Central Asian cultures.

Clinical Specialties - My treatment approach focuses on growth, and in the process, I tag along with my clients to focus on their challenges and difficulties, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, trauma, adjustment, psychosis, spiritual crisis, interpersonal setbacks, and other major life stressors.

Therapy Modalities - I consider myself more eclectic and as such utilize an integrated approach based on Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, Existential Psychotherapy, Person-Centered Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy, and Psychodynamic Therapy…with a healthy dose of mindfulness and stoicism.

Personal – I like mindful walking, sightseeing, reading, listening to music, and documentaries about life and nature. Some of my favorite authors are Robert Sapolsky, Irvin Yalom, Joseph Campbell, John C. Maxwell, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Fredrik Backman, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Elif Shafak.

Language - English, Farsi/Persian/Dari, and some Pashto

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Francesca Mercurio, LMFT

Education - Francesca received her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Arizona State University and completed her master’s degree in counseling psychology at John F. Kennedy University.

Professional - I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #112017). I have experience working with individuals in a hospital setting where I provided individual therapy. I performed group therapy, DBT Skills groups, family therapy with individuals to address untreated mental health, life transitions, difficulty coping and improving interpersonal relationships. I also worked with Santa Clara Health and Hospital System- Adult Custody Health where I provided mental health services, intake assessments, suicide risk assessment and interventions to incarcerated individuals.

Clinical Specialties - I specialize working with children, teens, and adults with anxiety, depression, and mood disorders.

Therapy Modalities - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Family Systems

Personal - I was a Division I college gymnast at Arizona State and I love the Golden State Warriors.

Language - English

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Kelsey Keane, LCSW

Education - For my undergraduate education, I received a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies with a minor in Psychology from Chapman University. After completing my bachelor’s degree, I received a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University with an emphasis in Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities.

Professional - I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW #103044). After spending some time living in France, I began my professional career working in a residential treatment facility for teens. Afterwards, I moved to New York to attend the Columbia School of Social Work. While in New York, I had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings, including hospitals and schools. I was able to work with a range of different populations such as teens, new mothers, and immigrants and refugees from Africa and individuals involved with in the court systems. After returning to California, I continued to provide trauma-informed, strengths-based treatment to children, teens, and adults by providing risk assessments, long-term and short-term therapy, consultation/liaison work both within the hospital setting and in the community. Finally, I believe it is imperative to speak up and advocate for those who struggle to advocate for themselves and try to bring that to everything I do.

Clinical Specialties - Depression, anxiety, PTSD, attachment and relationship issues, suicidality and crisis, mood disorders, and psychosis.

Therapy Modalities - My treatment approach is one that is constantly evolving to meet the individualized needs of each patient. Some examples of therapeutic modalities I use include: Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBT-P), Person-Centered Therapy, and Complicated Grief Therapy.

Personal - I have always been passionate about helping and learning about other people and their cultures. After completing my undergraduate studies, I moved to Paris, France and lived there for two years working as an Au Pair and then as an English Teacher. While there, I was able to learn more about the world, spend time with my family in Ireland, and gain an even deeper appreciation for what makes us all unique. I decided to return to the US to continue pursuing my passion for helping others by obtaining my master’s degree in clinical social work. I am also a dog lover (have a doodle mix named Truman) and love Mexican food!

Language - English

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Tiffany Sarrach, LCSW

Education - I received a BA in Psychology and a BA in Child Development from CSU, Chico. I also hold a Master's Degree in Social Work from CSU, East Bay.

Professional - I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW28932) with over 15 years of experience providing mental health services throughout the Bay Area.

Clinical Specialties - I specialize in working with adults, couples, transition age youth, and the elderly with a focus on mood disorders, cPTSD, anxiety disorders and adjustment disorders.

Therapy Modalities - I utilize a variety of therapy modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, trauma informed care and solution focused therapy

Personal - I have two rescue dogs that I adore and am an avid Raiders fan.

Language - English

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Jae Suh, CEO

Education - Jae received his bachelor's degree in psychology with a focus on forensic studies from California State University, Fresno.

Professional - In his career that spans nearly three decades in community services, he has held leadership posts for many of those years. After beginning his career with a private, non-profit company that provided residential treatment for children in Gilroy, CA, he has been able to grow into other, more sophisticated leadership roles in his career. He has been able to provide leadership and guidance to many individuals working in the mental health field, which is one of his main areas of expertise, while playing key roles in creating, developing and implementing new programs within the Santa Clara County Mental/Behavioral Health Systems. Early in his career, he played an instrumental role in the creation of the area’s very first transitional-age youth (TAY) mental health services in 2002 while he worked at Momentum for Mental Health, a large non-profit agency, which eventually blossomed and became popularized into its own age group population within the System of Care. A few years later, he also played a critical role, along with other leaders at Momentum for Mental Health, in the development and implementation of one of the area’s first Full Service Partnership programming, initiated by funds obtained from the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA aka Prop 63 in 2004), for both the TAY and Adult populations.

In 2010, Jae also played a role in developing one of Santa Clara County’s first early-intervention program to address the needs of prodromal youths in the Mental Health system, which also led to eventually creating a Drop-In Programming offered to all youths enrolled in services at Momentum for Mental Health in 2011. Included in his efforts were not only years of guiding and overseeing multiple programs, but also several County/State-wide efforts to help propose and create new programming in the mental health system for targeted populations (Homeless individuals, Dually-diagnosed individuals, Individuals with substance use disorders, etc.).

His experience also includes a number of memberships, participation and being designated as Chair for various committees, engaging in training of new management employees, and other leadership tasks, both small and large-scale. In his most recent endeavor, Jae accepted the challenges of learning and working in the Developmental Disabilities Services system, joining Spread Your Wings in late 2019, first as a Business Consultant, eventually landing a full-time role as its Business Development Director in December 2019. In September of 2020, he was given the role as the company's Chief Operations Officer, to oversee all program operations and personnel, and continued in that capacity to help guide the leadership team and their efforts to realign business goals until his recent shift back into mental health as the Chief Executive Officer of ACCESS Mental Health, Inc. In his current role as the CEO, he is responsible for the overall business operations of ACCESS Mental Health, Inc., along with the guidance and development of business plans, goals, and outcomes-analysis.

Personal - In his time away from the office, he volunteers with two other organizations, Upwardly Global (assisting recent immigrant professionals with acculturation and professional job-seeking) and studentmentor.org (online guidance to students and recent graduates seeking career advice), looking for ways to continue to find opportunities to give back to the community. Originally from Jeonju, South Korea, and growing up in Lodi, CA, he has lived in many different parts of California before eventually calling the Bay Area his home since 1999. He has many different hobbies and interests outside of his work that includes all sports, cooking, traveling, drawing/painting, playing piano, and spending free time with friends and family. When he is not occupied by his many hobbies, you are very likely to find him dining at a local restaurant spot, sharing recommendations and reviews with others as a food enthusiast.

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