Justin Weber
I’ve been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for the past 16 years, and I truly love what I do. I approach every client with empathy, compassion, acceptance, and without judgment, regardless of what brings them to therapy. If this is your first experience with therapy, my goal is to make the process feel comfortable and approachable. Therapy begins with a conversation with someone who knows how to listen, ask meaningful questions, and understand what you are experiencing. I work to create a safe space where you can talk openly about anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship struggles, or experiences that may be difficult to put into words.
Known for his calm, direct style, Justin creates a supportive space where clients can identify patterns, set clear goals, and move toward lasting emotional stability.
My clinical perspective has been shaped by working across multiple levels of mental health care, including state psychiatric hospitals, correctional and forensic settings, emergency mental health services, adult parole operations, and substance use treatment programs. I have worked extensively with individuals experiencing severe mental illness, substance use disorders, trauma, and complex emotional and behavioral concerns. These experiences taught me that effective treatment requires both compassion and clinical precision. Today, I primarily work with adults and couples navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, perfectionism, relationship difficulties, attachment wounds, and major life transitions. My approach integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR, insight-oriented therapy, and attachment-based strategies. As an EMDRIA-certified EMDR therapist, I have specialized training in helping clients process distressing experiences that continue to affect their emotions, beliefs, relationships, and behaviors. My style is calm, supportive, and direct. My role is not simply to listen, but to help you understand patterns, regulate difficult emotions, improve communication, and develop practical tools for change. Together, we establish clear goals and work toward meaningful, measurable progress that extends beyond the therapy room.
First session
During the first session, I try to find out what brought you to therapy in the first place. I get a brief mental health and medical history, asking questions that are suitable for the session. I always ask the last time you’ve seen a doctor, do a suicidal assessment if necessary, and ask the client what they want to get out of therapy. I propose a short detailed list of how we can get the ball rolling only after I check to see that the client wants to move forward with me.
Strengths
I believe meaningful therapeutic goals are only possible when there is trust, rapport, and a strong working relationship between the client and therapist. Before we can determine where treatment should go, it is important that I understand what brought you to therapy, what you believe is not working, and what you would like to see change in your life. Goals are developed through ongoing conversations rather than prescribed by me. I do not believe it is my role to tell you how to live your life or decide what your goals should be. You are the expert on your experiences, values, relationships, and circumstances. My role is to bring clinical knowledge, perspective, and evidence-based strategies to help us translate what you want to change into realistic and achievable treatment goals. Together, we identify both short-term and long-term objectives. Short-term goals may focus on reducing symptoms, improving emotional regulation, developing coping skills, changing ineffective behavioral patterns, or addressing an immediate relationship or life stressor. These initial goals help us build bridges toward broader outcomes, such as greater emotional stability, healthier relationships, increased confidence, improved communication, or a stronger sense of personal well-being. Our goals remain active throughout therapy. We will regularly discuss your progress, identify what is helping, recognize areas where you may feel stuck, and modify our approach when necessary. Progress may be reflected in reduced symptoms, improved functioning, healthier responses to stress, or greater confidence managing difficult situations independently. Therapy is a collaborative process. We work as a team each week, with both of us contributing to the process. My responsibility is to provide a safe therapeutic environment, clinical guidance, appropriate challenge, and effective interventions. Your goals provide the direction. Together, we develop a practical pathway for achieving meaningful, measurable, and sustainable change.
Ideal clients
I have been trained specifically to work with couples, relationships, and individuals suffering from addiction, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, Bipolar, PTSD, infidelity, and grief. I want my clients to achieve results including greater independence, symptom reduction, and general quality of life. I know that no single approach is right for everyone, so I bring a wide range of approaches and modalities including Cognitive Behavioral therapy CBT, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy DBT, Solution-focused therapy, Brief therapy, and Motivational interviewing.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach that helps individuals understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, core beliefs, and behaviors. Many of the difficulties we experience in the present are influenced not only by what is happening around us, but by the meaning we assign to those experiences. My CBT work begins with understanding your current concerns, identifying patterns that contribute to emotional distress, and exploring the thoughts and beliefs underlying those patterns. For many people, core beliefs are deeply held ideas about themselves, others, and the world that developed through early relationships and significant life experiences. Beliefs such as “I’m not good enough,” “I can’t trust others,” or “I have to be perfect” can become so automatic that we may not recognize how strongly they influence our emotions, relationships, and choices. Together, we examine how these beliefs appear in your present life. This may include identifying: * Automatic negative thoughts and cognitive distortions. * Core beliefs and assumptions about yourself and others. * Emotional and behavioral responses connected to these beliefs. * Avoidance and coping strategies that may unintentionally reinforce distress. * Situations and relationships that activate established patterns. Treatment then moves beyond simply identifying these patterns. Using cognitive restructuring, behavioral interventions, skills development, and guided exploration, I help clients evaluate whether long-standing beliefs remain accurate or useful and develop more balanced, adaptive ways of thinking and responding. CBT is collaborative and active. We regularly evaluate progress and practice strategies that can be applied outside of therapy. The goal is not to eliminate every negative thought or difficult emotion. Rather, CBT helps you recognize when old beliefs are controlling present-day responses, challenge their influence, and develop healthier patterns of thinking and behavior. Over time, this process can improve emotional regulation, reduce symptoms, strengthen relationships, and provide greater confidence in navigating life’s challenges.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapy designed to help individuals process distressing experiences that continue to influence their emotions, beliefs, behaviors, relationships, and physiological responses. Rather than simply talking about a difficult experience, EMDR focuses on helping the brain reprocess memories that may remain emotionally “stuck” or inadequately integrated. My EMDR work begins with careful assessment, history taking, and treatment planning. Together, we identify current symptoms, triggering situations, relevant past experiences, and negative beliefs that may be connected to the presenting concern. Before reprocessing begins, I focus on preparation and stabilization, helping clients develop grounding, emotional regulation, and distress-tolerance skills to support a sense of safety throughout treatment. During EMDR reprocessing, a specific memory or therapeutic target is identified, including associated images, emotions, physical sensations, and negative beliefs about oneself. Using structured bilateral stimulation, which may include guided eye movements or other forms of alternating stimulation, I guide the client through the reprocessing process while continuously monitoring emotional and physiological responses. EMDR follows a structured eight-phase treatment model that includes history taking and treatment planning, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation of adaptive beliefs, body scan, closure, and reevaluation. Treatment is paced according to each client’s clinical presentation, readiness, and ability to remain appropriately regulated. As distressing experiences are reprocessed, clients may experience reduced emotional intensity, changes in negative beliefs, greater insight, and more adaptive responses to situations that previously triggered anxiety, fear, shame, anger, grief, or avoidance. My goal is not to erase difficult memories. Rather, EMDR helps clients integrate those experiences so the past has less power over their present emotional functioning, allowing for greater resilience, healthier relationships, and more adaptive choices moving forward.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I have developed clinical competency in utilizing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) principles and interventions in individual therapy with clients experiencing depression, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and associated behavioral concerns. My approach begins with empathy and validation, recognizing that clients are often doing the best they can while also needing new skills and strategies to create meaningful change. In individual therapy, I use DBT to help clients identify specific target behaviors and understand the relationship between thoughts, emotions, physiological responses, environmental triggers, and behavioral choices. Through behavioral chain analysis, clients learn to recognize the events and vulnerabilities that contribute to problematic responses and identify opportunities to intervene earlier and more effectively. For clients experiencing depression, DBT interventions may target withdrawal, avoidance, isolation, hopelessness, difficulty initiating activities, negative self-evaluation, and ineffective coping behaviors. Treatment emphasizes emotion regulation, behavioral activation, mindfulness, and development of healthier responses to distress. Clients learn to recognize emotional vulnerability factors while increasing engagement in behaviors that support stability, connection, and improved quality of life. When treating anxiety, I use DBT strategies to address excessive worry, avoidance, emotional reactivity, rumination, and difficulty tolerating uncertainty or distress. Mindfulness and distress-tolerance skills help clients observe uncomfortable thoughts and emotions without automatically reacting to or avoiding them. Emotion-regulation strategies further support clients in identifying emotions accurately and responding in ways consistent with their goals and values.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
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Serves
Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 26201