Anna Swan, PhD, ABPP

Treatment Approach

Dr. Anna Swan is a Board Certified Clinical Psychologist (CA #PSY31086, NY #022808-1) who cares for children, teens, young adults, parents, and families with anxiety and related concerns.  Dr. Swan specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), an evidence-based treatment which helps clients learn skills to cope with anxiety, and put those skills into practice by gradually engaging in, rather than avoiding, anxiety-provoking situations. Dr. Swan offers CBT in-person in San Francisco, CA, and via telehealth when appropriate. She is licensed to provide care in California and New York. 

Dr. Swan also works with families with young children (ages 3 to 6) exhibiting behavioral difficulties, anxiety, and selective mutism. She is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) as a therapist and within-agency trainer through PCIT international. PCIT is an evidence-based, short-term therapy program designed to further improve the parent-child relationship, help parents set limits in a calm and effective way, and help children regulate and listen when needed. When young children are experiencing anxiety symptoms, PCIT can help families learn tools to cope with anxiety, and ways to gradually approach, rather than avoid, situations when nervous. Currently, Dr. Swan only offers PCIT virtually.

Education, Training, & Experience

Dr. Swan completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Yale University. She earned her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, where she was mentored by Dr. Philip Kendall, the developer of the most widely studied and disseminated child anxiety treatment. She has specialized training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Dialectical Behavior Therapy for teens, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and other evidence-based practices.  

Dr. Swan has held two faculty appointments. As a clinical assistant professor at the NYU Child Study Center, Dr. Swan provided direct clinical services for children, teens, and young adults experiencing elevated anxiety and mood concerns, as well as clinical supervision and training. Dr. Swan then joined the faculty at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) as a clinical assistant professor. There she provided specialty clinical care for children, teens, and families with anxiety, mood, and behavioral concerns, and provided training and clinical supervision for psychology and psychiatry learners in areas of expertise (CBT and PCIT).  She continues to work with UCSF psychology and psychiatry learners as volunteer clinical faculty.

• Yale University, BA, Distinction in Psychology

• Temple University, MA, PhD, Clinical Psychology

  • Advisor, Philip Kendall, PhD, ABPP

• Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, APA Accredited Internship

• NYU Langone, Anxiety & Mood Disorders Service at NYU Child Study Center, Postdoctoral Fellowship

• NYU Langone, Assistant Clinical Faculty (2018-2019)

• University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Assistant Clinical Faculty on the Anxiety & Mood Disorders Service (2019-2023)

• University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Volunteer Clinical Faculty (2023-present)

Select Publications

Dr. Swan's research has focused on assessing and intervening in anxiety and related concerns in young patients. She has published over 20 research articles and book chapters on the assessment and treatment of child and adolescent anxiety disorders.

Swan, A. J., Kendall, P. C., Olino, T., Ginsburg, G., Keeton, C., Compton, S., ... & Albano, A. M. (2018). Results from the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Longitudinal Study (CAMELS): Functional outcomes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 86(9), 738.

Swan, A. J., Carpenter, J. Assessing and Treating Sleep Difficulties in Anxious Children and Adolescents. J Health Serv Psychol 44, 7–13 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544657

Swan, A. J., & Kendall, P. C. (2016). Fear and missing out: Youth anxiety and functional outcomes. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 23(4), 417.

Kendall, P. C., Makover, H., Swan, A., Carper, M. M., Mercado, R., Kagan, E., & Crawford, E. (2016). What steps to take? How to approach concerning anxiety in youth. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 23(3), 211.

Swan, A. J., Kagan, E. R., Frank, H. E., Crawford, E., & Kendall, P. C. (2016). Collateral support: Involving parents and schools in treatment for youth anxiety. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 1(1), 3-15.

Swan, A. J., Carper, M. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2016). In pursuit of generalization: An updated review. Behavior Therapy, 47(5), 733-746.