(he/him)
New to Grow
My name is Aaron Jimenez, and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Los Angeles, California, with over 13 years of experience serving the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. Much of my career has been rooted in community-based care. I spent eight years at the Los Angeles LGBT Center — the largest LGBTQ+ health organization in the world — where I deepened my commitment to affirming, culturally responsive therapy. I have also had the privilege of teaching at my graduate alma mater, Pepperdine University, and consulting on a range of mental health-related projects that continue to shape my approach to this work. My practice is grounded primarily in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a framework I have found to be one of the most practical and effective tools available. By integrating CBT's evidence-based problem-solving skills with mindfulness and distress tolerance, DBT helps clients develop a clearer understanding of themselves — and the concrete skills to turn that insight into meaningful, lasting change. As a gay man and person of color, I understand firsthand the importance of feeling truly safe and seen in a therapeutic space. That sense of safety is the foundation of everything I do. From there, I take a collaborative approach — working alongside each client to build toward a life worth living, as defined by them.
Our first session is a space for you to share what brings you to therapy and what you're hoping to get out of it — there's no pressure to have it all figured out. From there, we'll begin building the foundation of a collaborative relationship where you feel safe, seen, and in the driver's seat of your own growth.
With over 13 years of practice in one of the most diverse cities in the country, I've had the privilege of working with a wide range of people, experiences, and challenges — and that depth of experience has shaped both my clinical skill and my capacity for empathy. Rooted in DBT and a collaborative, client-centered approach, I bring a calm and grounded presence to every session — one that isn't overwhelmed by the weight of what clients carry — paired with a genuine confidence that, together, we can find a way forward.
My ideal clients are LGBTQ+ individuals and couples who are motivated for growth and seeking a deeper understanding of themselves. I work with clients across the lifespan — from adolescents to older adults — who value working with a therapist who shares their lived experience as a person of color and a member of the queer community, so that their identity is understood, not explained.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
With over 10 years of DBT-informed practice, I draw on its evidence-based framework to help clients understand how they think — and more importantly, how to change it. By blending CBT's practical problem-solving skills with mindfulness-based distress tolerance, I guide clients through a rich set of exercises and skill-building tools that turn insight into lasting action