Greetings. I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). I received my Master's in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and have been practicing since 2008. I am curious about your whole being – not only your thoughts and mind, but also your emotions, how they show up in your body, your identities and any spiritual or religious beliefs that help you make sense of yourself in the world. As a LMFT, I am especially experienced with helping people gain insight into the impact of their early family relationships, especially how it shows up in our present relationships. We can always shift our perspective to create more freedom, more compassion, more truth.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
My two goals the first time we meet is for you to get some immediate relief from the stresses causing you to seek therapy, while giving you a chance to decide whether I am someone you are interested in doing longer-term work with.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I find meaning in my own life by learning to appreciate and be comfortable with ambiguity, to make space for darkness while always remembering the light. I will approach you, your being and your stories with curiosity, kindness and honesty, while offering opportunities to see things in a new light, create space for complex and sometimes contradictory feelings, so that you can try on new ways of being in relationship to yourself, to others and to life.
About Susan Leksander
Serves ages
Licensed in
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Psychodynamic
My training as a therapist is grounded in Psychodynamic therapy which helps people identify the “maps” they have developed to navigate their world, their relationships and their decisions. It acknowledges that we bring these maps into all relationships and situations, including therapy. Getting a “lay of the land” is a starting place for change, and creating new maps is where change lives and resides.
Interpersonal
Talking about our relationship in the moment can be an especially powerful way to notice old patterns, question whether they are still relevant or useful, and experiment with perhaps trying something new.
Existential
The choices that we make can often be a reaction to our past, and not actually an expression of our deepest values. Choosing where we live, who we spend time with, our work, our partners, what we do in our free time is a declaration to ourselves and to the universe about who we are and what we value. And saying Yes to something can be an intimidating prospect, if it means saying No to something else.