Loretta Blevins
LPCC, 10 years of experience
About me
Hi, I’m Loretta Blevins, I work as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor or LPCC. I am licensed through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. I have a Masters of Clinical Counseling and Early Childhood Mental Health, from San Diego State University. I have been in the field for about 14 years. I work collaboratively, in conversation with my clients. We will work together to explore your present thoughts and feelings so that you develop a better sense of self and increase mindfulness to enjoy your everyday life. I want to acknowledge your courage in taking this first step towards becoming your best self because, let's be honest - starting therapy can be empowering, confusing, and misunderstood, all at the same time. I will create a safe and welcoming environment that you can explore obstacles and concerns related to anxiety, depression, and/or self-care. I focus on helping clients develop assertive communication & boundaries with themselves and those around them that can help improve their quality of life.
Get to know me
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
In our first session together we will first take care of introductions, review informed consents and any get all your questions about therapy, or me, answered. At your pace we will collaborate on what brings you to therapy and what you want to get out of our time together.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I lead with compassion and empathy. I am very transparent and want you to feel comfortable. I have worked with Mothers, (and I am a Mom) Families, and Children for 20 years and have extensive experience helping individuals navigating interpersonal relationships. I relate on deep level to people of color and how being marginalized can impact health and well being. I have passionately enjoyed being able to successfully empower individuals to heal and grow from their struggles.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I love working with Mothers managing pregnancy and postpartum struggles. I have a specialized certification and many years of experience in Maternal Mental Health. I also love to work with diverse ethnicities and people of color that have experienced harsh realities that affect their lives and impact their journey.
Specialties
Top specialties
Other specialties
I identify as
Serves ages
My treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can address issues that keep people from treatment. As an intervention, ACT benefits and appeals to potential clients with trauma because it is a non-pathologizing approach. I am able to connect with clients with ACT because it promotes the understanding that suffering is part of the human condition (not a dysfunctional, diagnosable disorder). ACT normalizes suffering, normalizes pain, and normalizes avoidance as normal human responses, while at the same time, I utilize ACT to help individuals move toward more value-driven living.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I understand cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has the goal of the reduction of symptoms; for example, a purpose of CBT is to reduce negative thoughts. When helping individuals with anxiety, depression, trauma, I use this psychotherapeutic treatment to help people identify and change automatic negative thoughts or reactions; as well as helping them identify, challenge, and replace these thoughts with more realistic and objective ones.
Compassion Focused
I lead with empathy and compassion, so Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) aligns with my values to to help those who struggle with shame and self-criticism, often resulting from early experiences of abuse or neglect. With CFT we collaborate and build an alliance. I will to teach you to cultivate the skills of self-compassion and other-oriented compassion, to help regulate your mood and lead to feelings of safety, self-acceptance, and comfort.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
Culturally sensitive therapy is an approach to psychotherapy that emphasizes the therapist's understanding of a client’s background and belief system as it relates to their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or other important elements that make up someone’s culture and/or identity. I am always centering my client's perspective and how they identify, because this is one of the most important part of our therapeutic relationship.