LMFT, 12 years of experience
Frequently rebooked
Hi! I am Marissa and I am a compassionate, highly empathic, and dedicated mental health professional from Southern California. I have decades of experience helping individuals, couples, and families improve their relationships and their overall mental and emotional well-being. I have completed extensive training and hold multiple certifications in various therapeutic modalities utilizing both traditional and holistic practices to combat issues such as mood disturbances, nervous system dysregulation, trauma, grief, and addiction. From both my professional and personal experience, I understand the importance and value of integrating mind, body, and spirit into the healing journey. I have had the extreme privilege of witnessing the benefit and the beauty individuals experience when they awaken to a more authentic and meaningful way of existence. The mere possibility of me getting to experience this with you fills me with so much gratitude and joy!
Our first session involves uncovering some background information and really exploring what brings you to therapy. I also want to make sure that we are a good fit. The therapeutic relationship is very important and I wouldn't want anybody feeling uncomfortable or that the vibe is off.
My greatest strengths are my intuition and my ability to empathize with my clients. I find great joy in helping individuals feel empowered and find the meaning in circumstances that may have left them feeling broken.
I work exclusively with adults (18 and older) who are ready to engage deeply in the therapeutic process. My ideal clients are those who are open to exploring not just the challenges they face today, but also the patterns, emotions, and beliefs that have shaped their inner world over time. You might be feeling stuck in unhelpful relationship dynamics, weighed down by anxiety, grief, or self-doubt, or aware of old wounds that keep showing up in new ways. Perhaps you’ve tried pushing through or distracting yourself, but are now ready to address the root causes rather than just the symptoms.
I incorporate attachment-based therapy by exploring how early relational experiences shape my clients' emotional patterns, self-perception, and interpersonal dynamics. By fostering a secure therapeutic relationship, I help clients identify and challenge maladaptive attachment behaviors, develop healthier relational patterns, and build emotional regulation skills that support deeper, more fulfilling connections in their personal lives.
I utilize psychodynamic therapy to help clients explore unconscious patterns, unresolved conflicts, and early life experiences that influence their current emotions and behaviors. Through insight-oriented dialogue and self-reflection, I support clients in uncovering underlying motivations, processing past experiences, and fostering greater self-awareness, leading to meaningful and lasting change in their emotional well-being and relationships.
I incorporate grief therapy to provide a compassionate space for clients to process loss, navigate complex emotions, and find meaning in their grieving process. By utilizing a combination of emotional expression, meaning-making, and coping strategies, I help clients move through their grief at their own pace while fostering resilience and a renewed sense of connection to life.
I use Emotionally Focused Therapy to help clients identify and transform negative emotional patterns that impact their relationships. By fostering a safe and supportive environment, I guide clients in recognizing their attachment needs, deepening emotional connections, and developing healthier ways of expressing vulnerability and seeking support, ultimately strengthening their relational bonds.
I take a trauma-informed approach by creating a safe, supportive space where clients can process their experiences without fear of judgment or retraumatization. Using Cognitive Processing Therapy, I help clients identify and challenge unhelpful beliefs related to their trauma, fostering new perspectives that promote healing. Additionally, I incorporate Havening techniques to support emotional regulation and reduce distress associated with traumatic memories, helping clients build resilience and regain a sense of empowerment.