Find a Therapist in La Palma, California.

When providing psychotherapy ("talk therapy"), I offer a safe and compassionate space where you can bring your full self without judgment. Together, we’ll explore your thoughts, emotions, and experiences to uncover patterns that may be keeping you stuck. My goal is to help you gain clarity, heal from past hurts, and develop tools that support lasting change. Through this process, you can strengthen your emotional well-being and move toward a life that feels more balanced and fulfilling.

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.

Psychotherapy can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and personal growth. In our sessions together, I will provide a safe and non-judgmental space for you to explore your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Using evidence-based techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, we will work to build self-esteem, reduce anxiety and worry, and strengthen your existing coping skills. I will also incorporate mindfulness and Eastern philosophy to help you connect with your inner self and find meaning and purpose in your life. Whether you're dealing with specific issues or just looking to improve your overall well-being, I am here to support you on your journey towards healing and growth.

I believe that everyone can benefit from psychotherapy. We live in a busy world and because of this, we often put our own needs aside to focus on others. However, we all have difficult periods in our lives, along with issues that cause frustration and therapy is used to heal those upsetting feelings and learn constructive ways to deal with them. This is accomplished by making changes to the parts of your life that aren’t working for you or are contributing to your issues. Some of the main benefits of therapy are the feelings of validation and understanding that you receive, the new perspectives that you gain on various issues, and the learned techniques to cope with life’s frustrations.

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.

I enjoy working with adults and adolescents and specialize in the treatment of eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm and other maladaptive behaviors (including underlying issues of anxiety, depression and trauma), which may be preventing my clients from living a life of inner peace and enjoying fulfilling connections with others. I am a licensed Clinical Psychologist through the California State Board of Psychology (PSY 27951).

VOBH helps individual and group clients strengthen the relationship between human behaviors and the well being of the body, mind, and spirit. We provide a wide array of behavioral health services that will help you achieve a greater sense of self-awareness, which grounds you in your daily life and creates a more joyful existence. We value diversity and recognize the importance of finding a psychologist and therapeutic approach that works best for your current needs.

Psychotherapy is when an individual has mental health support from a therapist for emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy has the potential to help reduce undesirable symptoms and at times eliminate them. The goal of treatment would be to focus on individuals symptoms and create goals with the therapist support to then gradually increase overall well being of individual.

Ask yourself, when was the last time I invested in me, my own well-being and overall health? Psychotherapy offers you the opportunity to express your unspoken fears and worries in a healthy way while learning insight as to the causes of the underlying issue. While supported by your therapist, you have the opportunity to explore and process the impact of life events (ie., childhood experiences/relationships, major life changes such as marriage, birth of a child, divorce, loss of a loved one, and current relationships) in a non-judging environment that will afford you the opportunity to improve your overall level of functioning.

I'm a seasoned licensed individual therapist with a focus on how relationships shape our personalities and overall mental health. I use a comprehensive blend of therapeutic approaches including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and Object-Relations Psychotherapy. Tailoring to the unique needs of individuals seeking personal growth, I empower clients to explore underlying patterns and emotional complexities. With an empathetic and goal-oriented perspective, clients find a path towards self-awareness, emotional balance, and confidence. My deep commitment to individual well-being positions me as an ideal guide for those seeking to transform and enhance their lives in therapy.

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.

Most of us don’t think about our mental health until we have a disorder or a serious problem that impacts us negatively. Many of us have learned communication, coping skills, and parenting skills from our caregivers which have not always been positive or helpful. Through our life experiences we develop good or bad habits, a positive or negative world view, effective or poor communication skills, healthy or unhealthy coping skills. Therapy by a professional can teach you new skills and behaviors to improve your relationships, increase your satisfaction and happiness, and improve your overall well being.

Meetings typically feel like engaging conversations where together we take on a problem (or a set of problems) that has been affecting your life in a way that is not what you want. Over the course of these conversations, you might expect to gain a better sense of where you stand and how you want to proceed, based on your skills, your resourcefulness, and what is truly important to you.

The unconscious always wins. Often times we think we know why we do what we do---but we don't. The opportunity cost of not knowing can be huge. In my work I help clients get to the bottom of why they are doing what they are doing. When we have the insight, we can make new choices. Maybe you're dealing with a big decision in your career or relationships, maybe you struggle feeling confidence or self esteem. Whatever the case may be--I'm here to help.

My approach to psychotherapy is specialized to each individual I work with. Even though symptoms of eating disorders and the underlying issues may be common amongst people who suffer from anorexia, bulimia and binge eating, understanding one's own personal history, story and psychology is what helps develop insight and sustain change. It is my clinical belief that eating disorders, self injury and compulsive shopping each provide a sense of emotional soothing and regulation that may be absent or limited in the person who suffers from one of these "hunger diseases". In my clinical work, I help people develop emotional regulation skills and insight.

As a psychotherapist, I specialize in Jungian Dream Analysis and Mindfulness to help you heal and achieve a sense of inner peace. These powerful tools can help you make positive changes and work towards a healthier and more fulfilling life. Through Brainspotting, you can break through and overcome past pain and trauma. The many benefits of psychotherapy include building more meaningful and lasting emotional connections, creating healthy boundaries in your relationships and achieving your goals.

My clients often find me easy to talk to and say they feel comfortable with me, trusting quickly. This can make the psychotherapeutic process easier and more effective for my clients, especially if they are nervous or don’t know what to expect. Therapy with me can range from just talking casually with each other, leading to insights, increased self awareness, and processing through emotional issues, or it could be more intensive deeper therapy like EMDR.

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.

A number of benefits are available from participating in psychotherapy. Therapists can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues, and creative blocks. Many people find that therapists can be helpful in managing personal growth, interpersonal relationships, family concerns, marriage issues, and daily stress. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn

I have almost 20 years experience treating individuals and couples in psychotherapy. I find that finding a good match with your psychotherapist is of utmost importance. One needs to feel safe with the therapist and in the environment in order to feel more comfortable to share extremely personal and become emotionally vulnerable for the process to be more beneficial. I have treated individuals and couples of ethically diverse backgrounds, the LGBTQ community who have offered me the feedback of feeling surprisingly comfortable undertaking the psychotherapeutic process with me.

My approach to psychotherapy does not involve years of talk about issues until the client reaches a "catharsis," and suddenly is cured. It is more of a collaboration and involves the client to engage in his own therapy. We look for solutions, rather than talking about "problems" endlessly. As a person-centered therapist, I believe an authentic, respectful and caring relationship with the client fosters growth and self-actualization. The use of cognive-behavioral methods, allows us to look for underlying beliefs the client may have about his place in the world, and unrealistic thought patterns, such as "all-or-nothing" thinking. These can be redirected to provide positive outomes.

I believe in creating an atmosphere in therapy in which you can feel safe and comfortable with me so that you can share what is bothering you without judgement. Clients give me feedback that I am warm, caring , humorous, and easy to talk to. I believe that successful therapy also involves learning new skills and learning to think differently about your life or whatever is bothering you. To achieve this, I often encourage between sessions "homework" to accelerate therapeutic progress.

I like to ask good questions rather than solutions. I am a professional collaborator. When it comes to anxiety and trauma, there are practical tools I use to help clients relieve their nervous system. I use deep brain-based work called brainspotting. In my talk therapy, I like to use the foundation of narrative therapy to help clients feel dignified and learn to use their values to help carry them forward. Its the best of both worlds using a processing technique and another technique that requires thinking. I use all areas of the brain.

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 take a strengths based, humanistic, person centered focus toward psychotherapy. This allows us to approach your issues directly based on your experience with the issues you are facing. Beginning with your strengths, we will look at how you have managed the issues so far focusing on what has worked and expand on these options. At times you may be challenged and confronted with difficult yet realistic options for change. I work to provide positive feedback and encourage you to consider new techniques which may be just a little bit outside of your comfort zone. Through discussion in an open, honest, safe and supportive environment, we will work toward your growth toward your goals.