Find a Therapist in Brea, California.

We cannot underestimate the impact our families of origin have on our personal development. Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers all play an enormous role in how we view ourselves and the world around us. Psychotherapy is a thorough exploration into the causes for many of our dysfunctional behaviors. You will gain insight into how your early life relationships are impacting you current relationships. I provide a supportive and compassionate counseling experience making objective observations throughout the process. Psychotherapy can provide clarity that facilitates positive change. It aims to put to bed old resentments and hurts leaving clients free to pursue healthy relationships.

I have 20 years of diverse professional experiences and extensive training. I am a published writer, lecturer and passionate about my field. I specialize working with Individual Adults and Teens. My style is conversational, and I strive for a collaborative and compassionate practice with my clients. Though, I am trained in a variety of therapies, I primarily work in narrative and psychodynamic theory. Additionally, I may draw upon other similar or complimentary theoretical approaches to create a highly personalized treatment plan based on your needs and goals.

Finding the right therapist is vital to the growth and healing of the individual. My goal is to uncover what my clients need and find ways to help them activate this within session and within their lives. I am very active, encouraging, using humor and stories or videos to help them reframe the areas were they are stuck or confused. My goal is to help them see that the tapes that they believe are no longer helping them and to give them the freedom to see themself with new eyes.

I truly believe psychotherapy provides a healing, transforming relationship that will ultimately empower you to make long-lasting life changes. One main goal in my personal therapeutic approach is to fundamentally change the struggle you likely have with your thoughts and feelings, so you can be free to experience a better quality of life. I tend to utilize a variety of therapeutic frameworks to conceptualize and fit your specific needs, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Relational Therapy, Family Systems, and Psychodynamic Therapy.

After 30 years as a practicing pschotherapist, I have learned effective ways that allow my clients to feel safe, empowered, and to heal in an invironment that is both confidential and respectful. I am a solution oriented therapist and while I feel that the past experiences do have an impact on who we are today, I believe the current experiences are much more telling and important. My clients are actively involved in their therapy goals and outcomes, as we work together to achieve healing, growth and change. There are many effective tools I introduce in therapy that can help in communication and assisting you with expressing feelings and emotiions more effectively.

Many of us seek therapy to get relief from emotional distress, or to manage a problem that we are having in our lives. But often, those problems are connected to something deeper and causes us to feel “stuck” in patterns that we are unaware of. A full exploration of your history helps to uncover those more unconscious thoughts and reactions. Learning to manage the problems, while also addressing the underlying triggers is a crucial part in feeling more effective.

Psychotherapy gives us the opportunity to understand and change something that is negatively affecting our lives that we do not understand. Examples: Work success unobtainable! I am not liked at work! I Feel hoeless and helpless at times! Romance illudes me! Friendships are few or don't exist at all! I can't get intimate easily! Realtionships come and go! I always seeming pick the wrong people for partners! Its hard for me to set goals! I day dream a lot! In Psychotherapy we will explore the problems, understand the causes, how they are impacting our lives today. We will identify the areas we want to change, seek out solutions, set goals and work toward resolution.

The "fit" between client and therapist is crucial. I create a safe and nonjudgmental setting in which to interact and work together, emphasizing and enhancing your ability to be open and to learn to see yourself as you truly are, without the need for it to be otherwise. I will follow your lead and together we will utilize your innate courage and resourcefulness to find, change and resolve the obstacles or difficulties you may be facing and that are holding you back from living the whole and rich life you want to lead. This is the essence of psychotherapy and of healing. Please feel free to call.

As a therapist I am trained in and specialize in feminist therapy, trauma therapy and therapy with adolescents and their families. I am also a specialist in therapy with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender/gender variant individuals/families. I use feminist therapy, a form of therapy whose focus is on empowering you as an individual. I am specially trained in the treatment of GLBT issues and have over 20 years experience. I am a trauma expert and am trained ina variety of treatment approaches. I am able to offer you very specialized help with traumatic experiences that will resolve anxiety, depression and relaionship problems caused by traumatic origins. Holistc approach, whole body!

Psychotherapy is not anything to be scared of, or intimidated about. Seeking out a therapist or being in therapy isn't an admission of weakness or some kind of character flaw. Therapy is a collaborative process and a partnership with someone who is trained in and experienced with facilitating personal growth. And in this process, you are in the driver's seat. Our minds and emotions and relationships involve complicated machinery just like our bodies do and in the same way a medical doctor helps you stay physically healthy, Psychotherapy is designed to help you be and stay mentally and socially strong, and continually in a position to take on life's many challenges as your best self.

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, we look at the underlying concept, which is that your thoughts and feelings play a fundamental role in your behavior. For example, if you spend a lot of time thinking about plane crashes, runway accidents, and other air disasters, you may find yourself avoiding air travel. The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to teach you that while you cannot control every aspect of the world around you, you can take control of how you interpret and deal with things in your environment.

I chose the field of counseling because I am passionate about people & the process of growth. I chose to be a psychotherapist out of a sincere desire to help others believe in themselves and reach the goals they have set to lead more sucessful lives and enjoy healthier, happier relationships with those around them. I have a broad experience in working with individuals, children, couples & families. I consider it an honor to be present alongside my clients on such a rich, rewarding and powerful journey.

I am a psychodynamic trained therapist. Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of depth psychology and is similar to psychoanalysis. It is also known as insight-oriented therapy and focuses on unconscious processes as they are manifested in a person’s present behavior. The goals are for a client to become self-aware and understand the influence of their past on their present behaviors. The psychodynamic approach enables the client to examine unresolved conflicts and symptoms that arise from past dysfunctional relationships.