(he/him)
Clients say this provider is
I’m Robert Daroff, MD, a psychiatrist with more than 30 years of experience helping people navigate life’s challenges. From 1994 to 2026, I served as a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF and as an outpatient psychiatrist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. I completed my medical training at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and my psychiatry residency at UCSF. In addition to my civilian practice, I served as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Army Reserves until 2023, with deployments that included supporting frontline workers during the COVID-19 crisis in Philadelphia and serving overseas in Kuwait. My work is shaped not only by my clinical background, but also by decades of activism. Since 1983, I’ve been an activist in the queer community, and for more than 11 years, I’ve been active in animal rights. I have a particular interest in supporting the mental health of people engaged in animal advocacy and animal sanctuary work.
In our first session, we’ll focus on clarifying your goals for seeking care and exploring ideas and options for how to reach them together. There’s nothing you need to do to prepare other than completing a brief intake questionnaire. My goal is to begin getting to know you—your experiences, your values, and what you’d like to see change in your life—so we can start building a path forward that feels right for you.
I feel deeply honored to work in this profession, and my goal is that you never feel like just a number or a “case.” I want you to feel truly seen, heard, and valued for who you are, and to know that your experiences and your goals matter.
Because my private practice is limited to a few hours per week and I work independently, I am not able to provide the level of support needed for severe mental illness or active addiction. Those clients are best served in larger or more intensive treatment settings. I work with adults facing a wide range of challenges, offering individualized care that draws from several evidence-based and creative approaches, including: • Support and coaching for managing life stressors and relationship challenges • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for mood and anxiety concerns • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for trauma and stress-related issues • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) • Mindfulness-based coaching • Expressive arts therapies • Nature-based therapy (ecotherapy) • Medication treatment options
Cash - $400 per session
Aetna
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Gravie
Aetna - Lucent Health
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Medicare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
All Savers
Amerihealth Administrators
Amerihealth NJ Medicare Advantage
Anthem
Arlo
AvMed
Blue Cross
Blue Shield
Blue Shield of California - Medi-Cal
Blue Shield of California - Medicare
Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan (Medi-Cal)
CalViva Health (Medi-Cal)
Centivo
Central California Alliance for Health (Medi-Cal)
Cigna
Cigna - HealthEZ
Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley (Medi-Cal)
Evernorth
Golden Rule
GTEB
Harvard Pilgrim/UnitedHealthcare
Health Net (Medi-Cal)
Health Plan of San Joaquin/Mountain Valley Health Plan – Medi-Cal
Humana - Medicare
Humana Dual (Medicare & Medicaid)
Independence Administrators
Independence Blue Cross
Independence Keystone 65 HMO
Independence Personal Choice 65 PPO
Medicare
Optum
OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
Oscar
Oxford
Santa Clara Family Health Plan - Medi-Cal
Scripps Health Plan
Sharp Health Plan
Surest (formerly Bind)
Tufts Health/Cigna
United Medical Resources
UnitedHealthcare Complete Care (C-SNP)
UnitedHealthcare Dual (Medicare & Medicaid)
UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
UnitedHealthcare StudentResources
UnitedHealthcare/Optum
UnitedHealthcare/Optum - Medicare
ACT is especially useful for clarifying personal values and reconfiguring behaviors to align with those values. It is one modality a client may choose when working with me.
CBT provides useful skills for managing unhelpful thoughts and emotions. It is another modality a client may choose when working with me, and may be interwoven with other modalities.
EMDR can be useful for processing memories of difficult experiences that when unprocessed, can strongly negatively impact our current functioning.
Mindfulness practices can be very useful for a wide range of mental health concerns, especially anxiety and depression. Mindfulness practices can be woven into other modalities of therapy or be a primary focus.
MI is useful for helping clients identify health related goals and for fostering motivation to make desired changes in life. It can be woven into other modalities of therapy or be the primary focus.