La Selva Group Introduces Dr. Shefali Miller As Its New Medical Director
La Selva Group is excited to introduce Dr. Shefali Miller as its new Medical Director. Dr. Miller also serves as Momentum’s Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Miller has over 14 years’ experience as a psychiatrist, which includes serving as a part-time psychiatrist for Momentum’s Sub-Acute Residential Treatment program. She is Board Certified in Psychiatry.
She worked for several years at Stanford University School of Medicine, including positions as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of the Bipolar Disorders Clinic there. Most recently, Dr. Miller was a psychiatrist at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
Dr. Miller obtained her undergraduate degree from Duke University and medical degree from Columbia University. She completed her residency at Stanford University, where she also served as Chief Resident in Adult Psychiatry. After residency, she spent five years training as a research fellow at Stanford in bipolar disorder psychopharmacology with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Centers (MIRECC) of the Veterans Administration.
As part of her fellowship research, under the guidance of her mentor Dr. Terence Ketter, Dr. Miller explored the link between creativity and bipolar disorder, and also investigated the impacts of genes and childhood trauma on individuals with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. After her fellowship Dr. Miller joined the clinical faculty at Stanford, providing specialized treatment and consultation in the Bipolar Disorders Clinic as well as serving as principal investigator on several clinical research studies. In addition, she was actively engaged in community outreach, spearheading a program to provide free expert consultation and pharmacological treatment for underinsured young adults with bipolar disorder.
In her spare time, Dr. Miller enjoys running, cooking, traveling, and trying to keep up with her three young daughters. She is also the proud mom of two adorable pugs! Fun fact – Dr. Miller has always loved Italian Renaissance art and initially obtained a masters degree in art history before discovering her true passion for medicine.
Dr. Greer Murphy Was Honored With The 2019 Mrazek Memorial Award.
Dr. Greer Murphy is a physician for La Selva Group Behavioral Health Services, a division of Momentum. He is board certified in Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry, and in the new medical specialty of Addiction Medicine.
At the recent American Psychiatric Association Meeting held in San Francisco, Dr. Murphy was honored with the 2019 Mrazek Award.
Created in 2014, the David A. Mrazek Memorial Award recognizes an outstanding clinician in the field of pharmacogenomics.
Dr. Murphy shares this award with his long-time Stanford collaborator Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D.
The award covers two decades of research in psychiatric pharmacogenomics identifying DNA markers for medication response and side effects.
Dr. Murphy is also Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, at Stanford. At Stanford, he trained hundreds of medical students, residents, and fellows, many of whom now practice in the Bay Area.
For years Dr. Murphy’s Stanford laboratory investigated molecular biology and genetics, and he has over 100 scientific publications.
Warmest congratulations on your achievement!
Esperanza House
A supportive housing program for women recovering from the impact of trauma.
La Selva Group is excited to announce the addition of its new residential site that opened on November 26, 2018. The new program is a
supportive housing site in the Palo Alto community with a focus on women recovering from the impact of trauma. The new program–“Esperanza House”—is a six-bed facility located in a beautiful home, walking distance to our Outpatient campus at 206 S. California Ave. This will be our fifth residential site, bringing LSG bed capacity to 42. Staff will be on site daily with Residents living in a safe and supportive home-like environment. Mariella Lauriola, Ph.D., a trauma trained clinician, will be assigned to all the women residing there and will work there on site. They will also receive specialized care at our Outpatient campus, where they will be engaged in our Trauma Track.
La Selva’s Clinical Director, Dr. Brenna Connolly, will directly oversee this new program. Dr. Connolly, a Clinical Psychologist who has led LSG’s clinical teams for 10 years, explains, “Esperanza House is supportive housing for women focusing on safety as well as early stage interventions for trauma and emotional health issues. Our hope is to prepare women to be back in the community and instill hope and recovery in their lives. These women will have the opportunity to reside in a recovery-based community and will gain numerous skills to cope with their individual struggles. Some of the groups these women will attend in our Day Program include Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT), Trauma 101, Seeking Safety, Yoga, DBT for Trauma, and Trauma Process Group.”
La Selva’s Executive Director Jim Millsap CPRP adds, “It just seemed like the perfect time for LSG to add this new level of care to our array of services. I am very proud of those on our clinical teams taking this on. They have a real passion and commitment to serving those who suffer with trauma. This now adds even more depth in our efforts to provide support and care to those who have suffered from trauma.
La Selva Group continues to work in network with Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna, Magellan, MHN, Value/Beacon Options and Optum Care. This allows beneficiaries to have all or most of these new services covered by their insurance.
Juliana Lockman MD
Meet Juliana Lockman, MD
Dr. Juliana Lockman directs the Functional Neurologic Symptom Disorder (FND) track at La Selva. She works in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, where she is Clinical Assistant Professor in Neuropsychiatry. She completed residencies in both Neurology at the University of Virginia and Psychiatry at Stanford Hospital & Clinics. Her professional goals include developing effective therapies and improving access to care for clients with FND and related disorders.
The Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Track is a specialized treatment track within La Selva’s state-of-the-art residential, partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient programs (IOP). Residential clients live in the La Selva house in Palo Alto while attending the program. PHP/IOP clients attend on an outpatient basis, 3-5 days per week, averaging 8-10 weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is FND?
Formerly known as conversion disorder, FND is characterized by neurologic symptoms incompatible with an established neurologic or medical illness. Symptoms may include psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, abnormal movements, paralysis and speech changes. The diagnosis of FND is made by a neurologist by way of clinical exam, neuroimaging and/or neurophysiological testing.
What services are available?
All clients participate in standard psychosocial programming with additional FND-specific client/family psychoeducation, individual and group therapy and physical/occupational therapy services where applicable. Clients are under the compassionate care of a neuropsychiatrist and staff who are specially trained in understanding the unique needs of this client population.
How do I refer someone to the program?
For residential admissions, contact Emily Gray at 650-323-1401 to discuss and obtain a referral packet. For PHP/IOP, contact Brenna Connolly at 650-617-8349 or email bconnolly@momentummh.org. All programs require prior Neurology evaluation with documentation indicating diagnosis of FND/conversion disorder, client demographics, psychiatry/clinical notes, medication list and insurance information.
What is the turnaround time for admission?
For residential, the turnaround time typically depends on how quickly the packet is complete (including cleared TB and physician’s report) and the census at the time of packet receipt. For PHP/IOP, we try to accommodate new clients within 3-5 days.
Does my client need to be ambulatory?
For residential, clients must be ambulatory. Currently, the La Selva house is not ADA accessible, so wheelchairs are not permitted. Walkers can be discussed with the director of residential admissions. The PHP/IOP facility is ADA accessible. Clients may have wheelchairs or walkers but will need to be independent without staff’s help with ambulation.
What types of insurance are accepted?
Residential contracts with Anthem Blue Cross, MHN, Magellan, Blue Shield, Value Options, Healthnet (with single case agreement only), United Healthcare/Behavioral Health (Optum), Aetna, Cigna and Kaiser (if referred by Kaiser). The PHP/IOP program is not able to accommodate Kaiser insurance. Medicare and Medicaid are not accepted.
Emily Gray
Welcome Emily Gray, LMFT
I am happy to introduce Emily Gray, LMFT, as our new Director of Admissions.
La Selva’s residential treament program provides comprehensive and individualized treatment in a compassionate, warm, home like environment. It is located in a beautiful, residential neighborhood of Palo Alto near Stanford University.
Our residential treatment program provides a comfortable and safe alternative to inpatient psychiatric care. To ensure the highest level of treatment, La Selva Residential Program is licensed by the Department of Social Services and the Department of Mental Health in the State of California.
Emily Gray, LMFT, is La Selva’s Director of Admissions for Residential Services. She worked as a therapist in community mental health with children, adults, and families until joining our team.
Emily is a certified yoga instructor, has a background in mind/body medicine, and is experienced facilitating admissions and providing intakes for persons seeking treatment. She is passionate about helping people navigate systems to get the care they need.
Residential Remodel
Residential Remodel Looks Beautiful
La Selva is excited to report the remodel of our residential program is complete! We are back to full capacity and appreciate everyone’s patience when we needed to limit our capacity to support the remodel project.
“The new changes really bring a higher level of functionality and foster our core concept of community,” stated Director of Residential Services at La Selva, Anthony Miller.
The remodel project brought us a new kitchen, an extended dining room, new bathrooms, and upgraded bedrooms.
We appreciate the support from La Selva families, Momentum’s 2017 Annual Golf Benefit Tournament and many other community members who helped make this happen.
Specialized Trauma Treatment
Now Offering Specialized Trauma Treatment
La Selva is now proudly offering specialized trauma treatment! As La Selva has grown, we’ve noticed that over two-thirds of our clients have experienced some type of trauma. The symptoms associated with PTSD and complex trauma can make treating co-occurring disorders even more challenging.
To address this we now offer a Trauma Treatment Track, consisting of evidenced-based and integrative trauma therapies. Our program offers a safe space that allows clients to work through past experiences, while increasing safety, emotion regulation, resilience and empowerment.
Meet our Lead Clinician:
Betsy Harris, LCSW Lead Clinician
La Selva Group (A Division of Momentum for Mental Health)
206 S. California Avenue / Palo Alto, CA 94306
(p) 650-617-8340 x3343 (f) 650-617-1771
eharris@momentummh.org
Breaking The Silence
Breaking the silence is an article written by Joshua Alvarez in today’s issue of the Palo Alto Weekly. The writer did an excellent job in expressing how stigma can prevent or make it a struggle to receive help when faced with mental illness. Jim Millsap, who is our Executive Director of The La Selva Group, also contributed to the article. Below is a portion taken from today’s story. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.
The pressure continued even at San Francisco State. The summer before her junior year she attempted suicide. After recovering she was diagnosed with clinical depression and enrolled in La Selva, a mental health services clinic on California Avenue in Palo Alto that’s part of the Momentum Health Group. 
For too many people like Thomas and Dolph, what exacerbates their despair is not so much depression, which thanks to decades of research is treatable, but their reluctance to seek help, according to James Millsap, executive director of La Selva. Simply put, many people who should, and could, be receiving effective treatment are not.
“Something stops them. What stops them is not only their condition, which saps their energy and willingness to reach out, but also things they hear on the television set and the people around them that people with mental illnesses are crazy, dangerous, losers, weak or whatever. So then the solution is to start hiding what they feel and that ultimately leads to tragedy. That is the real enemy out there: It’s stigma,” he said.