Spirituality Therapists in Long Beach, CA

My name is Javier Meléndez and I am a licensed clinical social worker. As such, I’m grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside others on their journey toward healing and wholeness. I have a love for nature and the outdoors and I believe that reestablishing our connection to nature and the Earth is essential to our physical and psychological well being. In my practice I use mindfulness and embodiment in the context of nature to help empower clients throughout their therapeutic journey. I’m experienced in addressing issues related to spirituality , trauma, and sexual identity for teen clients ages 14-19, as well as for adults.

With over 25 years of experience working with adults, children, couples and families experiencing a variety of life's challenges, El Arco Iris Family Counseling Center can help you get back on track. I have extensive experience with adoptive parents, gay/lesbian parents, blended, step-families and couples of all kinds. I work with individuals dealing with life's stressors, feeling unbalanced or overwhelmed. I have a deep understanding of the life-long complications stemming from childhood abuse and ACA (adult child of alcoholics) issues. Issues that often cause recurring problems in relationships, parenting, and at work. Se habla espanol.

How hard is it for you to create balance and focus in a world full of distractions, dishonesty, & dis-ease? And if what I call the "detrimental D's" as stated above contributes to how you act/think/feel, then who or what is really controlling your life & wellbeing? Let me guess: social media, unaddressed trauma, grief & loss, emotional dysregulation, unhealthy boundaries, passiveness, impulsivity, mood or eating disorders, chronic fatigue, aches/pain, anxiety, depression, digestive discomfort, pH imbalances, etc. Talk therapy alone may be unsuccessful or even unappealing, are you interested in exploring something more effective?

I work well with individuals who are seeking to learn more holistic ways to address their emotional and relational challenges whether they be family of origin issues, trauma, the challenges of parenting a child with special needs, chronic illness, anxiety, or depression. My general frame work is that you cannot separate the body from the mind nor can you separate a person from their life time of experiences, therefore working with all of these systems is a highly effective way to improve happiness, decrease anxiety and stress, and increase coping skills to manage life with more ease and improved relationships.

Everyone experiences some form of incongruence in life. However, when one's life gets disrupted and overwhelmed by conflict, anxiety, trauma, loss, or stress of everyday life, it causes psychological and emotional distress and loss of insight that constrains growth and creativity. Psychotherapy offers a helping relationship that is warm and empathic, where one feels safe and fully received to explore and reflect on incongruences with fresh perspectives and insights. Psychotherapy provides a climate for the individuals to emerge as someone who can fully live and trust one's experience as satisfying in each circumstance.

I currently provide telehealth counseling for individuals, couples, and families with a variety of presenting problems to improve their interpersonal relationships. I am certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Restoration Therapy to diagnose and treat generalize anxiety, clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, family problems, relational problems, and other adjustment disorders. I hope to help you regain greater self-control, inner peace, and power over anxiety, depression, and trauma to increase your emotional intelligence and self-regulation skills to improve your quality of life and relationships.