Hello, my name is Lesa Vander Bie and I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 25+ years experience in helping individuals. I obtained my degree in Social Ecology from University of California, Irvine (UCI) with honors, a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Chapman University and a Certificate in Dynamic Psychotherapy from the Newport Psychoanalytic Institute. It's my sincere pleasure to provide a supportive and empowering space for us to create positive change in your life. I have extensive experience in addressing such issues as anxiety, perfectionism, shame, low self-worth, attachment issues, coping skills, life transitions, relationship issues, women's issues, men's issues, singleness, dating, 20's/30's getting established in life, etc. My main therapeutic approach is Psychodynamic Therapy which is exploring and understanding the links of how your childhood experiences are internalized and repeated in adulthood. However, I also use CBT, Solution Focused, Grief Therapy, and other therapeutic tools. Together we identify your goals and work towards healing, growth and healthier ways of relating and reaching your aspirations. I value creating a collaborative relationship which helps me tailor our sessions to adapt to your specific needs. I have a background in the Performing and Visual Arts and have a successful practice in Southern California. I look forward to coming along side you to help you gain valuable new insight, tools and equipping you to reach your life goals so you can live a fulfilling and meaningful life. Another specialty I offer is providing Personal Therapy to psychology MFT graduate students in California. TELEHEALTH EXCEPTIONS: Unfortunately, I am not able to offer tele-health to individuals who are: High risk (suicidal, domestic violence, child abuse, sex-trafficking victims) Legal cases / currently dealing with a crime
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
In our first session, I strive to create a safe collaborative space and working relationship. We go over any questions as well as how to reach me outside of session. We begin to explore your presenting issues and history, and identify goals you would like to achieve. We agree to a frequency of visits and begin exploring presenting issues to move you to a state of thriving personally and relationally.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I believe my strengths include my empathetic and warm receptive energy. I’m effective in helping resolve complex issues and overcome challenges, so you can find emotional and tangible freedom to live the life you desire. I’m intuitive and hold space for your thoughts, POV, feelings and needs to be heard and supported and I respect my clients’ autonomy to make their own decisions. I create a collaborative relationship where we work together to help you reach your goals and become a more healthy, resilient, loving and inspired human being. Take the first step and reach out today. I look forward to hearing from you.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I enjoy working with adults 18+ and over and the following are just some of the issues I successfully work with: - Anxiety (generalized, panic, OCD) - Perfectionism - Shame and building shame resilience - Life Coping Skills - Low self-worth - Healing from attachment issues, building healthy attachments/relationships in adulthood - Life transitions (start/end school, moving, starting new career, breakups, etc.) - Navigating relationships (challenges with family members, friends, significant others) - Attachment issues (anxious, avoidant, ambivalent) especially in dating or committed relationships - Relationship issues (feeling understood, empathy, conflict res., boundaries, assertiveness, need fulfillment) - Singles (dating, self worth, career, achieving life goals, finding a healthy partner) - Women's issues (pre-natal and pregnancy, menopause, parenting, self-care, balancing life, marital satisfaction, career) - Men's issues (career, relationships, intimacy, hormone changes, intimacy, identity, retirement, purpose) - 50s, Aging (hormone changes, empty nesting, dating, new purpose and direction, new interests, etc.) - Career changes, managing stress / burnout, retirement - Grief & Loss, New Beginnings - *Psychology Graduate Students (MFT/SW) seeking to do their (program required) personal therapy in CA
Psychodynamic
I help the client identify what areas of their present life are not working and and bring light to how their life experiences have contributed to thoughts, beliefs about their own self-worth, and how they experience others and the world around them. We then work to change unhealthy patterns in adulthood and work through fears and barriers that are interfering with personal success, building healthy relationships and creating a rewarding life. We "break agreement" with faulty beliefs and replace them with more accurate, positive beliefs that support the client's growth and ability to thrive in all areas of their life. I incorporate teaching tools such as emotional/nervous system regulation, self-soothing, compassionate self-talk, mindfulness (the power of "staying in the moment"), harnessing rumination about the past or fear of the future, learning to identify "all or nothing / all good - all bad" thinking (cognitive distortions and splitting as an unconscious defense mechanism), setting healthy boundaries, and learning to effectively express one's feelings and needs. I teach you how to be a healthy partner by addressing such issues as communication, self-worth, acceptance, intimacy, co-dependency, conflict resolution, defense mechanisms, etc. We also may explore such dynamics as anxious, dismissive and avoidant attachment styles.
Christian Counseling
If you have faith in God (from a Biblical perspective/foundation) and you would like to receive counseling that allows you to integrate your beliefs into your healing journey, I offer therapy that integrates your spiritual values. We are able to understand why/how your beliefs are important to you, how they inform your view of yourself, God and your life journey, as well as how God may be guiding and speaking to you through circumstances, prayer, other people in your life etc. This integrated approach is rich with deep insights that allow you to grow, heal and thrive emotionally and spiritually. OTHER BELIEFS If you hold different beliefs or are agnostic or atheist, I am able to honor and hold space for your beliefs and provide you the support you need to understand how your beliefs inform you and how you live your life.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
The concept of mindfulness has gained a lot of interest and research over the years. I have discovered new ways of understanding and using mindfulness as a tool and life practice that deepens the richness of your daily life in a powerful way by exploring and grasping the "gravity" of the beautiful meaning of each moment in the "here and now." I also help you understand how it's a powerful tool to calm anxiety, depression, regrets from the past, and fear of the future through exploring what is unresolved and how to finally accept experiences your heart has carried for far too long and replacing that pain with renewed joy of living fully. Give yourself the gift to travel more lightly through this life and restore your joy and hope for today.
Attachment-based
Dating and seeking a partner to marry are just several examples of how your attachment style from your childhood effects you. It also shows up in how you relate to yourself, your friends, peers, boss, strangers and your family. Doing therapy that helps you understand the internalization of your early attachment to your parents and/or caregivers gives you a helpful glimpse into what holds you back from developing the ego capacity and tools to create healthy long-lasting and fulfilling relationships with self and others. It helps you gain insight, heal from the past, and create a new internal foundation from which to live with hope and freedom to get your needs met and be a person who can equally be respectfully attuned to others in a healthy way.
Supportive
Supportive therapy can encompass many different things. It can help you simply identify problem areas in your life and help you discover insights, solutions and tools to move through an impasse. It can help you feel the comfort of another caring person to heal from a loss or disappointment through helping you feel deeply understood. It can help you recognize how to become more willing to be vulnerable in a healthy way by asserting your voice, expressing your feelings and needs, and setting boundaries. It can help you learn to identify "safe" people in your life and create a support system that helps you thrive. It can help you gain confidence to take risk to learn new life skills or overcome a challenge with triumph and victory.