John Piacentini, PhD

John Piacentini, PhD

  • Pediatric Psychology
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | 300 Medical Plaza, Suite 1200, Los Angeles, CA 90095

About

Dr. Piacentini is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist and Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences.  He directs the UCLA Child OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorders Clinic and Tourette Association Center of Excellence which provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment (both therapy and medication) for youth with the above problems.  He also directs the UCLA Center for Child Anxiety Resilience, Education, and Support (CARES; carescenter.ucla.edu) which provides education and programming to parents, teachers, and clinicians about anxiety prevention and management.

Dr. Piacentini's research focuses on the development and testing of effective treatments for youth OCD, anxiety, tics, and body focused repetitive disorders. He has played a lead role in several major treatment studies for these disorders and has published over 300 scientific papers and chapters and nine books.  

Dr. Piacentini has a long history of child and family advocacy and serves on national Boards for several organizations, including the Anxiety Depression Association of America and the International OCD Foundation. He chairs the Scientific Advisory Board for the TLC Foundation for BFRBs, and co-chairs the same board for the the Tourette Association of America

Languages

English

Education

Medical Board Certification

Child & Adolescent Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology, 2003

Internship

Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, UCLA Department of Psychology & Education (MC 156304), 1985

Degree

PhD, University of Georgia, 1986

Locations

West Los Angeles

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry| Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Videos

Recognizing and Treating Problematic Fear and Anxiety in Children
Parenting an Anxious Child
Managing Back to School Anxiety

Research

Interests

Dr. Piacentini's research, teaching and clinical work focus on the development, evaluation, and implementation of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and other effective treatments, including medication, for children with OCD, other anxiety disorders, tic disorders and trichotillomania.

Insurance

  • Aetna
  • Anthem Blue Cross
  • Blue Shield of California
  • Centivo
  • Cigna
  • First Health
  • Health Net of California
  • Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
  • L.A. Care
  • Medicare Advantage
  • MultiPlan
  • UFCM Health System
  • Prime Health Services
  • Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
  • TRICARE
  • UnitedHealthcare

The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change. 
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