Diane M. Estrada
Hi there, I'm Diane M! Let me guide you through your mental health wellness journey. You are not alone. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist in California, with 10 years of experience as a Psychotherapist.
A better quality of life comes from making a choice for a more fulfilling life, and taking the first step has the potential to be life-changing.
My approach combines utilizing evidence-based practices such as cognitive behavioral therapy focused on learning skills to manage symptoms & behaviors interfering with life, cognitive processing therapy for processing traumatic events, dialectical behavioral therapy to understand emotionally painful situations and relationships through acceptance and processing distressful feelings, and interpersonal therapy focused on grief/loss, life transitions, and social support systems. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to not only meet your needs but also facilitate your awareness, growth, and healing.
First session
In our first session together, we'll start with brief introductions, establish rapport and create a safe space for you, to help ease any concerns you may have, then dive into the specific challenges you're facing. This will help me create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow-up sessions.
Strengths
My approach is empathetic, warm, transparent, interactive, and engaging. I believe in establishing a therapeutic and respectful relationship between my client and myself. I'm sensitive and compassionate and do not believe in stigmatizing labels. I am fluent in Spanish and English. Life is full of emotionally painful challenges, no matter who you are or how fortunate you have been. A better quality of life comes from making a choice for a more fulfilling life, and taking the first step has the potential to be life-changing. My goal is to support and empower you on this courageous journey of healing and growth.
Ideal clients
My specialties include working with culturally diverse populations, including young adults, 18 years old and adult population. I work with individuals on concerns such as ADHD, anxiety, panic disorders, behavioral issues, coping skills, depression, life transitions, panic attacks, grief & loss, domestic violence, self-esteem, general stress, pregnancy, and prenatal/postpartum issues.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT, It's a common treatment for a range of mental health problems. CBT teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems. It focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and actions. Treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include: Learning to recognize one's distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality. Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
DBT, It's based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). But it's specially adapted for people who feel emotions very intensely. The focus of DBT is to help you: Understand and accept your difficult feelings. Teaches that our experiences are real/valid and to accept them as such. It also informs us that we must make positive changes if we wish to have a healthy relationship with the ever-changing, and often-challenging world around us.
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
CPT, teaches you how to evaluate and change the upsetting thoughts you have had since your trauma. It focuses to help people who are "stuck" in their thoughts about a trauma. It was developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Interpersonal
IPT, focuses on relieving symptoms by improving interpersonal functioning. A central idea in IPT is that psychological symptoms can be understood as a response to current difficulties in everyday relationships with other people. Help patients adapt to life changes, connect with social supports, and improve communication. IPT focuses on affective exploration of relationships to foster adaptation, and connection with supports.
Motivational Interviewing
MI, is a counseling approach designed to help you find the motivation to make a positive behavior change. This client-centered approach is particularly effective for people who have mixed feelings about changing their behavior. It is designed to strengthen an individual's motivation for and movement toward a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person's own arguments for change.
Location
Virtual sessions