Meet Dr. William Chan, PSY.D. at Banyan Behavioral Health in San Mateo, CA

Dr. William Chan earned his doctorate from PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium. He received specialized postdoctoral training in mood and anxiety disorders at Pacific Anxiety Group. He received training at UC Davis and Santa Clara University to work with international students and LGBT issues. In addition, Dr. Chan is an Adjunct Clinical Faculty member at Stanford University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Chan has expertise in treating anxiety and mood disorders. He is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and integrates other evidence-based approaches to personalize treatment based on his clients’ presentations. He pays special attention to creating a trusting and safe environment to help his clients build insights and skills to learn new ways to cope with stressors and gain acceptance. He recognizes that change is scary and hard. Thus, he aims to compassionately empower his clients to effectively address their concerns head-on and face their fears so they can grow their confidence and ability to tolerate and manage emotional distress.

Dr. Chan also spends some of his time doing research. He developed a virtual reality exposure therapy for adults with social anxiety disorder. He also studies how to use chatbots to improve accessibility of psychological care to women at risk for developing an eating disorder.