Therapy Services
Couples counseling, individual therapy, and support for life’s transitions throughout the South Bay
Sometimes life feels overwhelming. Relationships struggle. Anxiety takes over. You lose sight of who you are and what you want. As a therapist serving Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, and the entire South Bay, I provide compassionate, effective therapy for individuals and couples ready to make meaningful changes.
With my background in clinical mental health—including years of experience working with complex conditions like dual diagnoses, mood disorders, and personality disorders—I bring depth and expertise to every session. I’ve worked with people in crisis and people who simply feel stuck. No matter where you are, therapy can help you find your way forward.
🌱 Individual Therapy
Life doesn’t always follow the script we imagined. Sometimes we find ourselves stuck, overwhelmed, or wondering how we ended up feeling so disconnected from the person we thought we’d become. Individual therapy provides a space to explore what’s not working, understand why, and build a path forward that feels authentic and achievable.
I work with adults and adolescents navigating anxiety, depression, life transitions, identity questions, and the challenge of simply figuring out who they are and what they want.
Common Concerns I Help With
- Anxiety and worry — When your mind won’t stop racing
- Depression and low mood — Feeling stuck, hopeless, or numb
- Life transitions — Career changes, relationship shifts, new chapters
- Self-esteem and identity — Not knowing who you are anymore
- Grief and loss — Processing death, divorce, or other significant losses
- Stress and burnout — Running on empty with nothing left to give
- Relationship patterns — Repeating the same unhealthy dynamics
Adolescent Therapy: Understanding Today’s Teens
Having worked in many local high schools and middle schools throughout the South Bay, I understand the unique pressures facing today’s teens. I’ve sat with students in crisis. I’ve seen what they’re dealing with behind closed doors. I know the landscape they’re navigating—and it’s harder than many adults realize.
Today’s adolescents face unique stressors including substance use and peer pressure, relationship struggles, feeling misunderstood, communication breakdowns with parents, low self-esteem and body image issues, academic pressure, social media challenges, and anxiety and depression at rates higher than ever.
I provide a space where teens can actually talk—without judgment, without lectures, without feeling like they’re being “fixed.” When appropriate, I also work with parents to improve communication and strengthen the family relationship.
💔 Healing from Breakups & Toxic Relationships
Some breakups shatter us in ways we didn’t expect. You knew it was over—maybe you even ended it yourself—but months later, you’re still struggling. You can’t stop thinking about them. You replay conversations, wonder what you could have done differently, or find yourself tempted to reach out even though you know you shouldn’t.
And when the relationship was toxic—when there was manipulation, control, emotional abuse, gaslighting, or a partner who made you feel crazy, worthless, or constantly walking on eggshells—the aftermath is even more complicated.
Why It’s So Hard to Move On
- Trauma bonding — The cycle of highs and lows creates intense attachment
- Identity loss — You built your life around this person
- Gaslighting aftermath — You don’t trust your own perceptions anymore
- Grief for what you hoped it would be — Mourning the future you imagined
- Shame and self-blame — Wondering why you stayed
- Fear of being alone — The relationship was painful, but at least you weren’t alone
In therapy, we work through the tangled emotions that keep you stuck. We process what actually happened, understand the patterns, rebuild your sense of self, and help you trust yourself again.
✨ Perfectionism & Fear of Failure
From the outside, you look like you have it together. You’re accomplished, responsible, the person everyone counts on. But inside, you’re exhausted—constantly driven by a fear of messing up, falling short, or being exposed as not good enough. You hold yourself to impossible standards, and no matter how much you achieve, it never feels like enough.
Patterns of Perfectionism
- Procrastination — If you don’t start, you can’t fail
- Overworking — Nothing ever feels “done”
- Harsh self-criticism — You’d never speak to others the way you speak to yourself
- All-or-nothing thinking — If it’s not perfect, it’s a failure
- Imposter syndrome — Waiting for everyone to realize you’re not as capable as they think
- Physical symptoms — Tension, headaches, trouble sleeping
How Therapy Helps: CBT & Self-Acceptance
Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and self-acceptance approaches, we identify the thoughts driving perfectionism, challenge all-or-nothing thinking, build tolerance for imperfection, and develop realistic standards. We also work on separating your worth from your performance, developing self-compassion, and finding peace with being human.
💕 Couples Therapy
Relationships take work—and sometimes that work feels impossible. The same arguments keep happening. You feel disconnected, frustrated, or like you’re living with a stranger. Maybe trust has been broken. Maybe you’ve simply drifted apart. Couples therapy can help you find your way back to each other.
I help partners develop strong communication skills that allow you to understand each other’s emotional worlds, recognize the patterns that keep you stuck, and build real connection.
What We Work On
- Communication breakdowns — Learning to listen, express needs, and resolve conflict
- Emotional disconnection — Rebuilding intimacy and partnership
- Trust and betrayal — Healing after infidelity or broken trust
- Life transitions — Navigating parenthood, career changes, major decisions
- Different parenting styles — Finding alignment as co-parents
- Intimacy concerns — Reconnecting physically and emotionally
🚀 Failure to Launch
You finished high school—or maybe college—but the next chapter hasn’t started the way you thought it would. Maybe you’re living at home, unable to find direction. Maybe you’re paralyzed by anxiety about the future or overwhelmed by expectations. Maybe you feel stuck and don’t understand why.
I specialize in working with young adults experiencing “failure to launch”—that frustrating in-between place where you know you should be moving forward but something keeps getting in the way.
What Gets in the Way
- Undiagnosed ADHD — Executive functioning struggles that make “adulting” feel impossible
- Anxiety — Fear of failure, perfectionism, or social anxiety
- Depression — Low energy and motivation masquerading as not caring
- Identity confusion — Not knowing what you want
- Overwhelm — The world feels too big, too complicated
Together, we work through these barriers and build a path forward that feels authentic and achievable.
🧠 Anxiety & ADHD
For those struggling with anxiety and ADHD, the world can feel impossibly loud and chaotic. Your mind races. You know you’re capable, but something keeps getting in the way—the paralysis, the procrastination, the shame of not living up to your potential.
I help clients understand how their minds actually work—not how they’re “supposed” to work. We develop practical strategies that fit your brain, and perhaps most importantly, we work on releasing the self-judgment and shame.
What We Work On
- Understanding your brain — How ADHD and anxiety show up in your life
- Executive functioning — Time management, organization, planning
- Emotional regulation — Managing the intensity of ADHD emotions
- Practical strategies — Systems and tools that work for YOUR brain
- Anxiety management — Breaking the cycle of worry and avoidance
- Self-compassion — Releasing shame and building self-acceptance
🧩 Autism & Mental Health
For many adults with high-functioning autism, the diagnosis came late—or hasn’t come at all. You’ve spent your life feeling different, struggling to fit in, exhausting yourself trying to appear “normal.” And that lifelong effort takes a tremendous toll on your mental health.
High-functioning autism is tricky—precisely because you don’t “look” autistic. From the outside, you appear capable, intelligent, maybe a little quirky. But inside, the struggle is constant. Relating to others feels like solving a puzzle where everyone else has the answer key. Complex social situations are exhausting to decode. Forming friendships is hard. Keeping them can feel impossible.
The result is often profound isolation. You might be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone—like you’re watching life through glass, close to connection but never quite reaching it.
The Toll of Masking
- Autistic burnout — Complete exhaustion from trying to appear neurotypical
- Chronic anxiety — Constant hypervigilance in social situations
- Depression — Feeling fundamentally broken or misunderstood
- Identity confusion — Not knowing who you really are beneath the mask
- Relationship struggles — Difficulty connecting authentically
- Sensory overwhelm — Environments that others find normal feeling unbearable
I take a neurodiversity-affirming approach. I don’t see autism as a disorder to be cured—I see it as a different way of experiencing the world. We work together to understand your autistic experience, reduce masking, build sustainable strategies, and develop self-compassion.
When Teens Shut Down: Anxiety Mistaken for Defiance
The bright, capable student who used to participate in class becomes someone unrecognizable—hiding in their hoodie, refusing to make eye contact, giving one-word answers. Teachers see a student who “doesn’t care.” What they don’t see is the intense anxiety underneath—the terror of being called on, the overwhelming dread of standing out in any way.
I’ve worked with these students as an ERMHS counselor in schools. I understand what’s actually happening beneath the hoodie and the silence. We work on managing overwhelming anxiety, building coping strategies, and helping the adults in a teen’s life see past the “defiant” behavior to the terrified kid underneath.
🎯 Finding Your Voice
Many of the adults I work with share a common experience: somewhere along the way, they lost themselves. They’ve spent so long meeting others’ expectations, managing everyone else’s needs, or just surviving that they don’t know what they actually want anymore. They feel invisible in their own lives.
I help people find their voice in all the noise—to reconnect with what matters to them, to set boundaries that honor their needs, and to bring focus and joy back into their lives.
Signs You May Have Lost Your Voice
- You don’t know what you want—only what others expect
- You struggle to set boundaries or say no
- You feel resentful but don’t know how to change anything
- You’ve been taking care of everyone but yourself
- You feel numb, disconnected, or like you’re going through the motions
- You’ve forgotten what brings you joy
Therapy provides a space to rediscover who you are, what you need, and how to advocate for yourself. It’s about becoming more fully you.
🌟 My Approach to Therapy
I believe in meeting people where they are—with compassion, without judgment, and with a commitment to truly understanding your unique situation. I’m warm and direct. I’ll challenge you when you need it and support you when you’re struggling.
I take a neurodiversity-affirming approach, meaning I don’t pathologize differences. If you have ADHD, autism, or another neurological difference, we work with your brain rather than against it.
Therapy with me is practical and focused on real change. You won’t just talk about your problems week after week—you’ll develop understanding, skills, and strategies that actually improve your life.
Who I Work With
Couples
Partners who want to communicate better, reconnect, or rebuild trust
Adults
Individuals navigating anxiety, depression, or life transitions
Young Adults
Those struggling with “failure to launch” or independence
Neurodivergent
People with ADHD, autism, or other differences seeking support
Adolescents
Teens dealing with anxiety, school stress, or family challenges
People in Transition
Anyone navigating major life changes or new chapters
Serving South Bay & Beyond
In-person in Hermosa Beach | Secure telehealth throughout California
Ready to Start?
Taking the first step is often the hardest part. Let’s talk about what you’re going through and how therapy can help.
Schedule Free Consultation