Hi! I'm Mike. I live and work in Long Beach, CA as an LMFT. I am passionate about working with folks who have experienced traumatic events, are experiencing depression, anxiety, existential questions, relational issues or are struggling with a transition in their life. I use a wide range of approaches in therapy to best suite your needs and situation. I show up as myself in the therapy room (this means that I am a warm, compassionate listener who also believes in the benefit of humor and cursing in session). My goal is to make you comfortable showing up as yourself, so I do the same. When appropriate, I may share things about my life or experiences if it helps to illustrate a point or relates to what you are going through. I also will give honest and direct feedback and appreciate receiving this from my clients as well.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

My priority in the first session is to begin to get to know you and what you are coming to therapy for, and also give you a sense of who I am and how I show up. I want you to walk away feeling, heard and understood. I also find it is important to work towards identifying some clear goals for therapy so we have a gameplan of where we are going and how we are getting there.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

I think my use of humor and comfort in integrating my own personality and authentic reactions is a big part of who I am as a therapist. A core goal of mine as a therapist is to help people be there most authentic selves, and I try to model this in the way that I show up in the room.

About Mike Leone-Aldrich