Alyssa Bianconi Momtaheni
Hi, my name is Alyssa, my cultural background is Italian and Hispanic. I am also married to an Iranian and have learned for decades about Iranian culture. I am familiar with first responders and have proudly been invited to do several ride-alongs with a local Police department. I began my work practices as a therapist in the Bay Area of California and have been serving for 8 years. I enjoy providing a non-judgmental environment to support you with providing skills and tools to improve life's challenges.
I enjoy engaging in relationship building, providing tools you can apply daily, and also with women who have experienced trauma.
I went to NDNU for my master's program, earning my Master of Science in clinical psychology. I did my undergraduate degree at Menlo College in Atherton California. Most of my time has been a significant amount of years working with children aged 0-5, in school settings, and with couples. I enjoy engaging in relationship building, providing tools you can apply daily, and also with women who have experienced trauma. I also am an animal lover and enjoy spending time with my husband and children, hiking, reading books, and engaging in meditation during my free time.
First session
In our first session together I prefer to have a natural conversation. The reason I do this is because as we speak I learn so much about you and I start to pick on things that I notice could use support. I am also a human being and welcome you to ask me questions as well in order to get to know me and feel comfortable with sharing intimate details.
Strengths
One of my greatest strengths as a clinician is providing clients with practical tools they can apply to real-life situations. In therapy, we explore specific scenarios and challenges you may be experiencing and practice strategies that can help you respond in healthier and more effective ways. My goal is not only to help you understand what you are feeling, but also to help you develop the skills to manage discomfort, navigate difficult emotions, improve communication, and work through unpleasant or challenging situations. Sessions provide a supportive space to practice these tools so you can feel more confident using them outside of therapy. I believe therapy is most effective when you leave with greater insight, practical strategies, and skills you can continue using in your everyday life.
Ideal clients
I particularly work with couples, women's challenges, and trauma. I am Catholic and have made all my sacraments as well currently attend church functions weekly, for those who would like spiritual support and understanding. I am best suited for those who like a more direct approach and appreciate tools and weekly homework to make sure you are applying the tools. My areas of experience with couples are for those who need support with communication, conflict resolution, and how to request wants and needs in a more desirable way. I have experience with personality disorders as well and can support you with those black-and-white thinking patterns.
Treatment methods
Attachment-based
The attachment approach has been proven to support clients with the needs they desire. Attachment theories are developed in our early years with a caregiver and with evidence to describe our early years of development. This treatment method can decode needs that have been misunderstood by others and also a way to communicate better what you desire from others or why you have challenges in relationships.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
I enjoy working with individuals to help them develop new tools, gain greater self-awareness, and create healthier approaches to the challenges they experience in their lives and relationships. My goal is to provide a supportive space where clients can explore their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and patterns while gaining a better understanding of themselves. My approach focuses on helping clients identify what they want for their lives, relationships, and future. Together, we can explore personal goals, values, emotional needs, boundaries, communication, self-esteem, intimacy, and relationship patterns. I also support individuals who feel disconnected from themselves or others, struggle with communicating their needs, experience repeated relationship conflicts, or want to better understand how past experiences may be affecting their present relationships. Therapy can help clients recognize patterns that may no longer be serving them and develop healthier ways of responding to difficult emotions and situations. My goal is to help individuals strengthen their sense of self, build confidence, improve communication, develop healthier relationships, and create meaningful changes that support the life they want to live.
Compassion Focused
Compassion-Focused Therapy helps us look at the way you respond to yourself when you are hurting, overwhelmed, ashamed, or feel that you have failed. Many people have learned to motivate or protect themselves through criticism—‘I’m not good enough,’ ‘I should have known better,’ or ‘Something is wrong with me.’ We work on understanding where that voice came from and developing a different way of responding to yourself—one that is supportive, realistic, courageous, and helpful.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients recognize and challenge the loud, negative thoughts that can contribute to anxiety, self-doubt, and emotional distress. Sometimes our minds automatically predict the worst possible outcome. We may catastrophize, overthink, assume something bad will happen, or convince ourselves that failure or disappointment is inevitable. For some people, expecting the worst can feel like a way to protect themselves or maintain a sense of control: “If I prepare myself for the worst, I won't be caught off guard.” CBT helps clients slow this process down and examine these thoughts rather than automatically believing them. Together, we work on identifying negative automatic thoughts, recognizing unhealthy thinking patterns, examining the evidence behind those thoughts, and developing more balanced and realistic perspectives. The goal is not to force positive thinking. Instead, CBT helps clients learn to separate what they fear might happen from what the evidence actually shows, reduce self-sabotaging patterns, and develop healthier ways of responding to anxiety, uncertainty, and difficult situations.
Gottman method
I am a strong believer in the Gottman Method and its research-based approach to helping couples strengthen their relationships. In 2022, I attended The Art and Science of Love workshop, which further enhanced my understanding of Gottman principles and their application to couples work. In couples counseling, I integrate Gottman Method concepts to help partners recognize and address the Four Horsemen—criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling—which can contribute to ongoing conflict and emotional disconnection. Therapy focuses on replacing these patterns with healthier communication, increased understanding, emotional connection, and more effective conflict-management skills. My goal is to help couples better understand their relationship patterns, communicate their needs more effectively, repair after conflict, rebuild trust, and develop a stronger sense of friendship and partnership within their relationship.
Location
Virtual sessions