Marriage Counseling Therapists in Sierra Madre, CA

The focus of my years of work in Marriage and Family Therapy has been to help individuals and families gain greater control over their lives, aquire freedom from areas of trauma and maintain healthy relationships with God and loved ones.

You’re pretty resilient but life has thrown you a curve ball. Maybe you’ve recently experienced a major transition ( marriage /divorce, birth/death, aging, job loss/gain) or; your identity disrupts essential relationships (sexual orientation, religious affiliation, loving outside your race/ethnicity). Maybe a societal ill is beyond your control (racism, sexism, implicit bias, global pandemic). Your spouse/partner, boss, family or a friend has noticed it too but; you can't seem to talk to them about what's happening or you don't feel understood by them when you do. All you want is to feel better and tolerate life's ups and downs.

Are you wanting your relationship to get unstuck from a negative pattern of interaction? Are you and your partner feeling hopeless about your lost connection? When things like this happen it's easy for well-meaning friends to come to the rescue with ideas, but sometimes they just don't understand. Talking to a couples counselor can help. If you'd like to get started, give me a call.

Are you feeling confused, scared, anxious, overwhelmed, disappointed about you're going through and what it all means? Are you an expecting parent? Are you a parent to a child or to a teen? Are you stressed or overwhelmed in your marriage or relationship? Are you a parent that's overwhelmed and need help connecting with your child? Are you a parent or a caregiver to someone with special needs or Autism? What does this all mean? What are you supposed to do? Do you feel alone? Do you need support?

The most fascinating and important part of my job as a therapist is how to have a really good conversation. It may sound too simple, but it cuts to the heart of what to expect from therapy. Through good conversation, you experience connection and understanding. When we are understood, difficult feelings change with resulting freedoms to engage life. Trained both as a Marriage and Family therapist and a psychoanalyst, I work with complex relationship issues, divorce and blended families, depression, anxiety, addictions, men's issues, and sexual trauma recovery, and integration of psychology and faith/spirituality.

I help women get unstuck! Many women promise themselves they’ll do things differently from now on - but find themselves stuck in the same spot six months later. You don’t have to stay stuck or keep relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms to help you get through. Life’s too short to let your past keep disrupting your future. Choose yourself again. Stop feeling stuck. Live with confidence. In working with me you will become less reactive and triggered in your daily life; and feel more empowered and confident. Through our time together I will help you find happiness and peace, gain clarity, and get back on the right path for YOU.

Is it hard for you to say no? Is it hard to answer the question “Who am I?” Sometimes it’s so easy to be there for others, and difficult to be there for yourself. If you are in a pattern of empowering others but feeling burned out, you’re not alone and there is hope. There is a way for you to thrive, avoid burnout, and create connections while still being there for yourself. I have seen this transformation happen with my clients, and I would love to talk with you about what is possible.“

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Doctor of Bioethics practicing psychotherapy in Sierra Madre. I am Masters and Doctoral trained in Bioethics at Loyola Chicago and completed an additional Masters in Social Work and psychotherapy training at USC. I am experienced in treating depression and anxiety, grief and loss, those with chronic illness, and working with challenging family systems.

I help people with diverse cultural backgrounds to solidify healthy personal identities, locate themselves within larger communal identities, identify their values, needs, and preferences, and to communicate these in healthy and culturally sensitive ways so that they can live personally meaningful and satisfying lives, while still honoring their parents, families, and cultures. I also help clients with other concerns, including stress, anxiety, depression, career concerns, work-life balance, life transitions, cross-cultural adaptation, and intercultural relationships.

I am passionate about working with individuals and couples toward the goal of discovering how to access and express our deepest selves and form meaningful connections. I specialize in relationships, addiction and recovery, trauma, body image issues, and transitioning from adolescence into adulthood. I am committed to celebrating LGBTQ and gender variant people and communities and have a particular interest in working with gender variant individuals and their loved ones. I use psychoanalytic and postmodern theories in making links between subject and culture/subculture, always challenging gender stereotypes that keep us limited.

Better is possible. Crises, life transitions, and losses can bring new triggers to old wounds. You may find yourself struggling with feelings that are debilitating, even immobilizing. Anxiety, sadness, and overwhelm can leave you feeling unable to cope in healthy, appropriate ways. But it can get better, and you don't have to go at it alone. Therapy is an invitation to attend to your feelings and thoughts. In the deep reflection that therapy allows, you can become aware of the choices hidden behind the pain and confusion. You can reconnect to parts of yourself tucked away deep within. You can move towards relief and recovery.

Is ongoing daily stress taking its toll at work or home? Does it feel like the most important people in your life can't hear what you want or won't take "no" for an answer? Let's work together to manage stress and take control of emotional reactions and behaviors. When we're angry, hurt, afraid, or nervous we often react in ways that can make an already difficult situation worse. Or, we just freeze and it gets even bigger! It often feels like the more critical the situation, the less effective we are! We can help.

I utilize a holistic approach to mental health; addressing emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being, while generating momentum towards transcendence

Dr. Katharine Putman seek to create a warm, healing collaboration with each client. With over 18 years' experience providing therapy for children, adolescents, adults and families, Dr. Putman blends expertise in healing from trauma, anxiety, depression and grief. Life Tree therapists also tailor a unique approach to help each client to help the client to heal and thrive. Dr. Putman works within clients' spirituality, culture and worldview to reach short-term goals and/or longer-term therapy goals for those who wish to pursue deeper healing and growth in their relational patterns.

I am an out-of-network provider, which means I do not bill insurance companies for my services. For additional billing information please visit my website. I offer psychotherapy for adults, and young adults, who would like to be able to cope more effectively with their emotions and life stresses, heal from difficult experiences, and improve their relationships. Whether you're struggling with depression, overwhelming stress, addiction, relationship problems, life transitions, career direction or you want to work on taking your performance to the next level, we'll work together to explore and address your concerns and challenges.

Have you ever doubted yourself as a parent? Wife? Employee? Do you feel nothing you do is "good enough?" The challenges for women in today's "you CAN have it all" society leave many of us feeling inadequate and overwhelmed. If you are feeling insecure or fearful about your relationships, you don't have to go through it alone. Let's talk about how I can help you find the light at the end of the tunnel.

I like helping people find contentment and happiness in their lives. I believe it is important to understand one's self and one's personal values and to make choices that are positive and life-affirming. I have had extensive experience working with people having experienced trauma and loss, relationship problems, and who have substance abuse problems. Creative people are also one of my specializations. My training is primarily psycho-dynamic along with cognitive-behavioral orientation. I believe mindfulness, spirituality and forgiveness are ways of helping alter patterns of behavior that can keep us stuck in our lives.

I enjoy partnering with people to develop more satisfying and meaningful relationships, including with partners, children, family, and themselves. By exploring experiences of the self in relationships and the meaning of these experiences, new possibilities are created. Good clinical matches include adults in early adulthood (ages 18 - 45) and parents seeking to increase self-awareness, reflect on past experiences, make sense of their story, heal from trauma, and learn new healthier ways to be in relationship than what they learned from their family of origin.