Hello! I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist providing individual therapy for adults (ages 18 to 64) via Telehealth in sunny California! I received my Masters in Counseling Psychology through California State University, Bakersfield in 2020. I started practicing my therapeutic skills as a student trainee at our University Clinic and focused on treating anxiety, depression, grief and loss, and relationship issues. During my last year of practicum, I trained in an Intensive Outpatient Program providing group therapy with colleagues through the lens of DBT and Existentialism to treat depression, anxiety, bipolar, psychosis, ptsd, substance use, and life transitions. Since receiving my Masters in 2020, I joined the community mental health team to provide treatment for same conditions I helped treat at the Intensive Outpatient Program. In this setting, I was able to implement a variety of approaches such as Trauma Informed-CBT, SFT, DBT, and Motivational Interviewing. For the last two years, my last role in this setting included providing intensive therapy support to individuals and their loved ones who were discharged from a psychiatric hospital due to a mental health crisis for suicide attempt, homicidal ideation, debilitating psychosis, and grave disability.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

The style of our first meeting is centered around learning about your current needs, how you have coped with challenges in the past, your personal strengths as an individual, answering your questions about my therapeutic approach/experience and collaborating in identifying your treatment goals that can help enhance your wellbeing. These will help me create a tailored plan for your treatment and guide the structure of follow up sessions.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

Having worked with resilient clients who experienced moderate to severe symptoms has taught me about the importance of being attuned to their needs and desires. I strive to achieve this by joining them with my authentic and warm presence in a safe space where they feel accepted and can openly express their vulnerabilities. As a result, clients can begin to accept all parts of themselves which leads them to connect with their inner wisdom and to create solutions leading to improved wellbeing.

About Andrea Fernandez