Licensed to practice in California and accepts 28 insurances. Specializes in Grief, Life Transitions, Women's Issues and 10 more.

Ruth Clavelo

(She)

LCSW, 10 years of experience

Clients say this provider is

Warm
Empowering
Authentic
VirtualAvailable

About me

My goal is to help you reclaim your life and optimize your physical and mental well-being with practical tools that blend into your everyday life. Using a strength-based, whole-person care approach, I pair my own lived experience with practices from CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, and SMART Recovery to help you build sustainable personal growth. I am bilingual and speak English and Spanish.

Get to know me

In our first session together, here's what you can expect

Our first session is a gentle, low-pressure space focused entirely on getting to know you. We will explore what brings you to therapy, what you hope to achieve, and how we can best work together to build your self-agency. There is no right or wrong way to share your story; we will go at a pace that feels completely comfortable and safe for you.

The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions

My approach stands out because it brings together the best of both worlds: years of advanced clinical training and the deep empathy of personal lived experience. In our sessions, you get both deep clinical knowledge and a warm, down-to-earth partnership. I blend evidence based practices into practical, real-world frameworks that adapt to your specific needs. My goal is to create a safe, validating environment where you can rediscover your inner strength and build lasting resilience. Sessions are available: evenings and weekends. I am bilingual and English and Spanish.

The clients I'm best positioned to serve

If you are ready to release the past, understand yourself deeper, and create lasting change, we will work well together. Life can bring overwhelming moments of chronic stress, trauma, or major transitions. I help you reclaim ownership of your life. Many of my clients navigate deep-rooted relationship conflicts, low self-esteem, imposter syndrome, or struggle with the complexities of recovery or life transitions.

Specialties

Top specialties

Grief

Other specialties

Anger Management

Anxiety

Depression

Self Esteem

Identifies as

Serves ages

Licensed in

Location

Virtual

My treatment methods

Eclectic

Because no two people experience suffering or healing in the exact same way, I utilize an eclectic therapeutic approach. This means I draw dynamically from a diverse clinical toolkit to meet your specific needs in real time. For instance, we might use psychoanalysis to explore the deep-rooted origins of your relational patterns, apply Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to give you practical, day-to-day coping strategies for anxiety, and integrate mindfulness to help you stay grounded through stress. By blending these distinct modalities with the non-judgmental principles of harm reduction and SMART Recovery, your therapy is entirely customized to support your unique path to self-agency and lasting wellness.

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

When we work with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we look at the powerful connection between your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. Life complexities and stress often trap us in automatic, negative thinking loops that fuel anxiety and depression. Together, we will gently examine these thoughts, test their accuracy, and reshape them into perspectives that serve you better. CBT is incredibly practical; it provides you with tangible, day-to-day tools—such as mindfulness grounding techniques, behavioral activation, and cognitive restructuring—so you can actively manage distress outside of our sessions and build immediate relief

Mindfulness-Based Therapy

I integrate mindfulness into our work to help you step out of overwhelming survival loops and find solid ground in the present moment. When we experience trauma, anxiety, or deep stress, our minds tend to get trapped in painful past memories or future worries. Through simple, accessible mindfulness practices—such as breath awareness, somatic grounding, and mindful observation—I help you pause and steady your nervous system. This practice teaches you how to observe your thoughts and emotions with compassion and curiosity, rather than instantly reacting to them. By slowing things down, we create the clarity you need to make intentional choices and reclaim control over your life

, 20 ratings

7 ratings with written reviews

May 12, 2026

this is the first meeting i have done with someone that I actually enjoyed talking to immediately, amazing aura, kind, definitely understanding

Verified client, age 25-34
Review shared after session 1 with Ruth

April 23, 2026

I was searching for another therapist after the last one did not pan out well. I am beyond lucky to have found Ruth. She is very compassionate, direct/brutally honest, sympathetic, genuine, and challenges me every session to prioritize myself for the better. I am very thankful to have a practitioner as well-rounded and kind as Ruth. I always feel validated after our sessions. I truly think she is a gem in the field of therapy and would definitely recommend her to anyone. Thank you for reading!

Verified client, age 25-34
Review shared after session 7 with Ruth

March 1, 2026

Ruth is a wonderful, warm human being. I really enjoyed our first session together and I appreciate her willingness to listen to me and work with me through my issues. I’m genuinely excited for our future sessions and I’m happy to have found her.

Verified client, age 25-34
Review shared after session 1 with Ruth