Stephanie Sorensen
Hi, I’m Stephanie Sorensen, a bilingual English- and Spanish-speaking Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. specialize in anxiety and depression, often working with college students, young professionals, and parents.
Whether you’re navigating school or career pressures, balancing your own needs, or feeling overwhelmed by expectations, therapy can offer space to feel understood and supported.
Whether you’re navigating school or career pressures, balancing your own needs, or feeling overwhelmed by expectations, therapy can offer space to feel understood and supported. My approach draws from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills and Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed work. Together, we’ll build practical coping tools, explore emotional patterns with compassion, and work toward meaningful change.
First session
Our first session is an opportunity to get to know each other and begin understanding what brings you to therapy. We’ll talk about your current concerns, relevant history, what’s been helping, and what you hope might change. I’ll explain how I work, review confidentiality and its limits, and make space for your questions. You don’t need to prepare a perfect explanation or share everything at once. My goal is for you to leave with a clearer sense of how we might work together and some initial priorities for our sessions.
Strengths
I bring warmth, curiosity, and a collaborative balance of emotional exploration and practical skill-building. Drawing from DBT, I help clients manage difficult emotions, tolerate distress, set boundaries, and communicate their needs. My IFS-informed approach helps clients explore different parts of themselves, including those that feel anxious, self-critical, or overwhelmed with greater compassion. I tailor our work to the realities of your life, whether that includes school, work, parenting, or competing responsibilities, so we can identify manageable steps toward your goals.
Ideal clients
I work especially well with college students and young professionals navigating anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and life transitions. You may look like you’re managing on the outside while feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure of yourself internally. Perhaps you’re balancing expectations from school, work, or family while trying to understand what you want for yourself. I also welcome parents navigating these concerns. You might want practical coping skills, healthier boundaries, more fulfilling relationships, or a kinder relationship with yourself. You don’t need to have clear goals or know where to begin. We can figure that out together.
Origin story
I was drawn to becoming a therapist by the opportunity to help people feel understood and less alone during difficult seasons of life. I’m especially passionate about supporting people who are carrying significant responsibilities while trying to make room for their own needs. Whether someone is navigating college, building a career, or raising a family, I value offering a space where they don’t have to have everything figured out. Helping clients develop self-compassion, strengthen relationships, and build trust in themselves is what makes this work meaningful to me.
Ongoing work together
My style blends space to process your experiences, honest and compassionate feedback, and practical tools you can use in daily life. I’ll listen closely, share observations, and gently challenge patterns that may be keeping you stuck. We’ll work collaboratively, with room for you to tell me what resonates and what doesn’t. Drawing from DBT skills, we may practice managing difficult emotions, coping with distress, setting boundaries, and communicating your needs. Through IFS-informed exploration, we’ll approach different parts of yourself with curiosity and compassion, including those that feel anxious, self-critical, or pulled in different directions. We’ll set goals together and regularly check in on what’s helpful and what needs adjusting. Progress may look like recovering more quickly from stress, responding differently to self-critical thoughts, feeling more engaged in daily life, or navigating relationships with greater confidence. We can also use brief questionnaires to track changes in anxiety and depression alongside your own experience.
Treatment methods
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I incorporate Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills to help clients navigate anxiety, depression, and everyday stress. My approach blends space to process your experiences with compassionate, direct feedback and practical strategies. Together, we may practice mindfulness, managing difficult emotions, tolerating distress, and communicating your needs and boundaries. We’ll explore how to apply these skills to real situations, including school or work pressures, relationships, and parenting challenges. I emphasize balancing self-acceptance with meaningful change. I offer DBT-informed individual therapy rather than a comprehensive DBT program.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I use an Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed approach to help clients explore different parts of themselves with curiosity and compassion. You might notice one part striving to meet everyone’s expectations while another feels overwhelmed or wants to withdraw. Together, we’ll explore these internal conflicts, understand the needs and concerns behind them, and develop less self-critical ways of responding. I combine this exploration with honest, compassionate feedback and practical tools to support changes in daily life. My work is IFS-informed rather than a formal IFS treatment program.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
I draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help clients respond more flexibly to difficult thoughts and emotions while moving toward what matters to them. We may practice noticing self-critical thoughts without letting them guide every decision, making room for uncomfortable feelings, and clarifying your personal values. Through reflection, compassionate feedback, and practical exercises, we’ll identify manageable actions that align with those values, whether in school, work, relationships, or parenting. The goal is to build a meaningful life without needing every difficult thought or feeling to disappear first.
Trauma-Informed Care
I take a trauma-informed approach by considering how past experiences may shape your emotions, relationships, and responses to stress. I prioritize safety, trust, collaboration, and your ability to make choices throughout therapy. We can explore patterns at a manageable pace while building skills for coping with distress, communicating needs, and strengthening boundaries. You won’t be pressured to share painful experiences before you feel ready.
Faith-based therapy
For clients who wish, I integrate their faith and spiritual values into our therapeutic work. This may include exploring how beliefs influence identity, relationships, coping, and decisions, while making space for questions or spiritual struggles. As a Christian, I appreciate the importance faith can hold in a person’s life. I combine these conversations with practical therapeutic tools, guided by your preferences. I welcome clients of all beliefs and backgrounds, and incorporating faith is always optional.
Location
Virtual sessions
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Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 143358