Therapists in Santa Monica, CA

Looking for emotional relief? Do you feel underlying tensions but you or your partner are conflict avoidant? I have 30 yrs helping Couples change resentment to resiliency. Learn pillars of a secure attachment & ensure a cooperative future together. Resentments are a slow, rusty corrosive to the joy between you. Learn solutions and get emotional relief to long held tensions. My training is in communication, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence & positive relationship skills. My sessions have a safe, optimistic atmosphere. Our sessions will be relaxed, informative & non judgmental.

Change is possible and I believe therapy is a place where you can explore the challenges and achievements that make our lives feel more fulfilled. My approach to therapy is one of empathy, collaboration and practicality. I like to make therapy fun, engaging, and a safe place for you to comfortably explore your emotions and learn new healthy coping skills to support your growth. I have a passion for helping others achieve more fulfillment and balance in their lives. My goal is to provide a safe space to explore feelings that may contribute to ongoing difficulties, re-process experiences, and ultimately co-create your next chapter.

We have all had times where we are struggling, feel low or "off", may not even have a real "reason" why these feelings are coming up for us. Or those times where an event, situation, loss, change in our daily functioning has lead us to not feel that we have the right skills to live our best lives and we just don't know what to do. Therapy is an answer for someone who wants to explore these feelings, to work through the difficult times and to learn about oneself in an unbiased, non-judgmental environment.

Are you struggling to figure out how to best support your child? The early childhood years can be trying for parents who don’t want to repeat family patterns, and yet question their own intuition. When the answers can’t be found in the parenting books, you may benefit from guidance specific to your family’s needs. Finding someone to connect with and help deepen your understanding of your child’s inner-experiences can strengthen your relationship with your child, and also provide the empathy and support you need to feel less overwhelmed.

Psychotherapist, private practice, adult, child and family psychotherapy, child custody mediation, co-parenting counseling, couples counseling, reunification counseling, stress reduction, and mindfulness meditation. Other areas of specialization include anxiety, depression, addiction, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and career counseling. I offer both in person and remote sessions.

My aim is to help you live with a feeling of wholeness and sturdiness, even when life is difficult. You need no longer feel tired, never enough, and at the mercy of your own performance. I encourage my clients to dream bravely about the changes they hope to see in their lives. We work to get there by identifying and shifting the patterns keeping them stuck, with the goal of cultivating more meaningful relationships, as well as greater freedom and joy. I am passionate about working with people on relationship issues, whether you are single or in a relationship.

Your reach for support is a reach toward wholeness and connection in a world that is increasingly divided, distressed and disembodied - a world that privileges toughness, denial and individualism over sensitivity, awareness and collaboration. We receive messages from our culture that who we are isn't enough. And so we spend a great deal of energy trying to be something or someone that we are not - an abstract, ever-elusive someone we think we "should" be. We sweep the socially unacceptable parts of ourselves under the rug, often to the great detriment of our mental, emotional, and even physical health.

Laressa Desmond,PhD, LMFT, Nothing hurts like constantly stumbling over the same old communication problems with your partner, when all you really want to do is be close. It’s hard to concentrate or have a lightness to the day when relationship struggles drag you down. We fall in love with people who are different enough from us to create a spark. It’s that “completion feeling” of interest & fascination. We feel sad & confused when the spark burns instead of warming us. It’s a baffling betrayal to our emotional logic that we can deeply love someone that we frequently fight with & sometimes emotionally dread.

An examined life IS worth living. In this stressful world, many of us are troubled by anxiety, worry, sadness and depression, as well as frustration in our relationships. Although it is easy to feel helpless to make changes in our lives, I have been a part of many amazing transformations coming about through therapy. Therapy is a collaboration and I am dedicated to and active in the process. I have extensive training and experience and I use a multiplicity of approaches, including psychotherapy, relational psychoanalysis, hypnosis, EMDR, somatic and mindfulness practices, to help change the mind and the brain.

In my 30+ years of experience, I have tried to create a non-judgmental environment of openness and collaboration with my clients. I have found that most people are looking for understanding, clarification and a path to hope and healing.

As an Asian woman who has straddled two cultures for many years, I have a deep understanding of the struggles Asian women and men face in relationships, family life, and the workplace. I also know that our unique cultural history and cultural norms can present so many obstacles to healing emotional injuries and finding emotional health. If you are feeling lonely and isolated, anxious and guilty, inadequate, overwhelmed, conflicted, or depressed, I understand. And I have the experience to help you find concrete, practical solutions to these emotional challenges, yielding timely results. I am fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English.

You feel capable of more, but negative self-talk holds you back. You project a positive image to the world, but inside you feel like you're not enough. I specialize in working with adults who struggle with anxiety related to self-esteem, imposter syndrome, perfectionism and people-pleasing tendencies. We will explore how your unconscious feelings and patterns are impacting you and your relationships so that you can start to feel more agency over your life. With the clarity of understanding who you are, where you come from, and what activates you, you can begin to feel more comfortable in your own skin.

I work with those wanting to find a way forward from "stuckness", distress, and inner conflict, coping with disappointment, illness, loss, and grieving. I can help with better understanding and resolving your challenges, handling anxiety, alleviating depression, exploring their root causes and larger unconscious meanings. I can facilitate making sense of the imprints left by your lived experiences, bringing about the changes that you want and feeling more at home with yourself, in your own unique skin, and with others.

I believe you should like your therapist and feel like you’re making progress, rather than just spinning your wheels. A clinician’s knowledge, approach, and personality are key to achieving that, so I offer free 15 minute phone consultations in order to determine if we’d be a good fit. I have over 20 years experience treating adults, teens, and couples in the areas of anxiety, depression, relationships, and general self-growth. My other specialties include: mindfulness, integrative health, introversion, and highly sensitive people.

I do individual and couples therapy dealing with: addictions; defensive communication; sexuality; aggression; parenting, and money. *I find that most couples during arguments or stressful times, communicate poorly--are reactive and quick to blame. I really value helping the individuals develop themselves and their skills as a way out of this cycle, and towards a loving relationship. *In individual therapy we may deal with loneliness, anxiety, addictive patterns/substances or depression. We work together to set personal goals and on staying accountable. I focus on their maladaptive thoughts/feelings that can interfere with them retaking charge of their life.

I see individuals, Families and Couples while using an interactive and collaborative approach to therapy. I see individuals to help them with managing emotions, fears, sadness, depression, anxiety, stress, life transitions, addictions, eating disorders, body image issues, creating balance, establishing hope and nurturing yourself. I will work on improving relational issues such as dating issues, recovering from a break up, and communication patterns. Learning to set healthy boundaries is key in any relationship. I want to empower my clients by giving them the coping skills they need to live a healthy and successful life.

Therapy can provide a safe space for individuals to explore vulnerable dimensions of oneself and explore meaning in life’s experiences. Therapy with me is rooted in relationship. I understand that value of a trusting, authentic relationship between therapist and client, and I offer insight, support, compassion, and curiosity in a nurturing way that allows clients to examine patterns that both aid or hinder individuals’ potential for wholeness. I work from a depth-oriented, psychodynamic framework, understanding that one’s self is a manifestation of one’s whole life experiences. I provide both short and long term therapy.

Clients often seek therapy in order to effect some form of change in their lives. My work is less about change and more about understanding and acceptance. Our work is a collaborative format in which I assist you in understanding your unconscious motivations and accepting yourself just as your are. In other words, meeting you where you are and encouraging you to do the same. Change is secondary to self-acceptance. It is only when we love and accept ourselves that we can extend this grace to others. Currently we are living in a time of unprecedented uncertainness. Acceptance leads to less stress and a healthier immune system.

As a Marriage and Family Therapist, I will collaborate with you in developing problem-solving skills to enhance the coping strategies that will help you deal with depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues and other anxiety-producing experiences. I focus on understanding your symptoms within the context of your interpersonal relationships.