Lindsey Bergman, PhD

Dr. R. Lindsey Bergman is a licensed clinical psychologist and a recognized leader in the field of pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), selective mutism (SM), and other child anxiety disorders. Dr. Bergman directs all Intensive Outpatient Programming at the WaveMind Clinic, and supervises trainees in treating OCD, SM, and anxiety in children.  Dr. Bergman was on the faculty at UCLA in the department of psychiatry for over 25 years where she worked on seminal research projects developing evidence-based treatments for youth with mental health challenges and successfully treated hundreds of children and adolescents using these interventions (cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure response prevention, mindfulness, etc).  Dr. Bergman also served as mentor and supervisor for dozens of trainees who have gone on to be leaders in the field. 

Dr. Bergman served as the Founding Director of the UCLA Pediatric OCD Intensive Outpatient Program and the Associate Director of the UCLA Child and Adolescent OCD and Anxiety Program. In addition, she was the Founding Clinical Director of the Rogers Behavioral Health, Los Angeles Clinic. She was the recipient of several research grants and conducted the first published randomized control trial for the treatment of SM in the US.  Dr. Bergman also developed and tested the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ) which is the most widely used assessment measure for SM symptoms.  Dr. Bergman authored or co-authored over 100 works related to SM, OCD, and child anxiety and has presented at numerous national conferences.

Dr. Bergman received her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and her doctorate in psychology from UCLA. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and member of the American Psychological Association, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and the International Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. 

In her spare time, Dr. Bergman enjoys spending time with her family & pets, reading, doing crafts, and traveling!

Selected Publications:

Bergman, R. L., Gonzalez, A., Piacentini, J., & Keller, M. L. (2013). Integrated behavior therapy for selective mutism: a randomized controlled pilot study. Behaviour research and therapy, 51(10), 680-689.

Bergman, R. L. (2013). Treatment for children with selective mutism: An integrative behavioral approach. Oxford University Press.

Bergman, R. L., Rozenman, M., & Piacentini, J. (2014). Improving tolerance of intrusive thoughts: A pilot trial of mindfulness meditation in pediatric OCD. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Piacentini, J., Bennett, S., Compton, S. N., Kendall, P. C., Birmaher, B., Albano, A. M, March, J., Ginsburg, G., Rynn, M. Bergman, R. L.,…..& Walkup, J. (2014). 24-and 36-week outcomes for the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(3), 297-310.

Peris, T. S., Rozenman, M., Bergman, R. L., Chang, S., O'Neill, J., & Piacentini, J. (2017). Developmental and clinical predictors of comorbidity for youth with obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 93, 72-78.

Rozenman, M., Peris, T., Bergman, R. L., Chang, S., O’Neill, J., McCracken, J. T., & Piacentini, J. (2017). Distinguishing Fear Versus Distress Symptomatology in Pediatric OCD. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 48(1), 63-72.

O’Neill, J., Piacentini, J., Chang, S., Ly, R., Lai, T. M., Armstrong, C. C. Bergman, R.L. Rozenman, et al (2017). Glutamate in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Response to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Randomized Clinical Trial. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42, 2414–2422. 

Wu, M.S., Rozenman, M., Peris, T.S., O’Neill, J., Bergman, R.L., Chang, S., Piacentini, J. (2018). Comparing OCD-affected youth with and without religious symptoms: Clinical profiles and treatment response. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 86, 47-53.

Rozenman, M., & Bergman, R. L. (2018). Assessment of children with OCD. In The Clinician's Guide to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Childhood Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (pp. 55-73). Academic Press.

Bergman, R. L, & Rozenman, M. (2019). New Wave Therapies for Pediatric OCD, in Farrell, Ollendick, Muris, (Eds).  Innovations in CBT for Childhood Anxiety, OCD and PTSD, pp506-521, Cambridge University Press.

Bergman, R. L & Gonzalez, A. (2019). Selective Mutism, in Barrett and Fisak (Eds). Preschool Anxiety: Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention, pp193-214, New York, NY, Taylor & Francis.

Rozenman, M., Piacentini J., O'Neill, J., Bergman, R. L., Chang, S, & Peris, T. (2019) Improvement in anxiety and depression symptoms following cognitive behavior therapy for pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research, 276, 115-123.

Rozenman, M., McGuire, J, Wu, M., Ricketts, E., Peris, T., O’Neill, J. Bergman, RL, Chang, S, & Piacentini, J.  PhD (2019).  Hoarding Symptoms in Children and Adolescents with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Clinical Features and Response to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry;58(8). 799–805.

Oerbeck, B., Overgaard, K.,Bergman, R. L, Pripp, A., & Kristensen, H. (2020). The Selective Mutism Questionnaire: Data from typically developing children and children with selective mutism. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 25, 754-765.

Guo, S., Rozenman, M., Bennett, S. M., Peris, T. S., & Bergman, R. L. (2020). Flexible adaptation of evidence-based treatment principles and practices in an intensive outpatient setting for pediatric OCD. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 5(3), 301-321.

Piacentini, J., Wu, M., Rozenman, M., Bennett, S., McGuire, J., Nadeau, J., Lewin, A., Sookman, D., Bergman, L, Storch, E., & Peris, T, (2021). Knowledge and competency standards for specialized cognitive behavior therapy for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research, 299, 113854