Children's Mental Health Diagnostic and Treatment Services
of Ventura County a Nonprofit Organization
Children’s Mental Health Diagnostic and Treatment Services of Ventura County, Inc. was formed to address the problematic state of mental health services in Ventura County. Over the years, there has been an increasing lack of organizations able to and/or willing to provide comprehensive, focused mental health services, especially diagnostics, for children and their families in a format that many of the residents of the county need, which is in the client’s home or at alternative sites such as, schools, camps, group homes, foster homes, and Residential Treatment Centers (RTC) or any other appropriate setting such as a visitation room at Children Family Services (Child Protective Services).
Our organization is currently partnered with Change A Life Foundation of Irvine and works closely with City Impact of Oxnard and Girls Empowerment Center of Thousand Oaks, CA. We have an ongoing relationship with the Amen Clinics of Newport Beach which provides diagnostic services including S.P.E.C.T. brain scans that our in-depth diagnostics program cannot provide. To date our professionals are all volunteers and many of the services we obtain for the children and their families is through dedicated funding from sources such as grants from Change A Life Foundation.
Our services are primarily provided by licensed MFT’s (Marriage, Family Therapist) and pre-licensed MFT Interns, and by licensed and pre-licensed psychologists, and licensed, Board Certified psychiatrists. All service providers are appropriately licensed, certified, trained, and qualified to provide the services that they give, and they have undergone thorough background checks in accordance with law and necessity. CMHDTS service providers work from an adaptive site framework with an infrastructure that includes highly unstructured, flexible schedules.
Meet the Staff ….
Cynthia Torres is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 19 years of experience in the Mental Health Field. Mrs. Torres is a Clinical Supervisor and specializes in children’s disruptive behaviors and Parenting Issues.
Mary Mikesell PhD is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of clients with severe and/or rare conditions. Dr. Mikesell is passionate about helping clients using a holistic approach which includes advanced therapy and medical technologies.
Blanca Garcia is a registered Intern. She has experience counseling children, women, and men who were victims of Domestic Violence. Mrs. Garcia has 4 years of experience working with the Hispanic population.
Nancy Herzenach is a registered Intern Therapist with 2 years of counseling experience. She enjoys working with adolescent and children of all ages. She has special training in issues related to depression, anxiety and marital problems.
Dr. Wilda Laija-Rodriguez is a credentialed school psychologist and Licensed Educational Psychologist. Dr. Laija-Rodriguez specializes in psycho-educational assessments, educational consultation, and educational counseling.
Where the wellbeing of a child is our priority
