(she/her)
Great to meet you! I'm Edith Arias (she/her/ella), a first-generation Salvadoran-American Licensed Clinical Social Worker and life coach from Southeast Los Angeles. I specialize in supporting people of color through anxiety, ADHD, burnout, and life transitions — blending therapy, coaching, yoga, and mindfulness into an approach that is warm, practical, and uniquely yours. I believe healing doesn't have to feel heavy. My goal is to create a space where you can breathe, gain clarity, and reconnect with yourself. Whether you're a student figuring out who you are, a professional running on empty, or someone simply ready for something to feel different — I'm here for it. Growing up first-generation Salvadoran-American in Southeast LA taught me what it means to navigate between worlds, carry family expectations, and figure out who you are in the middle of it all. That lived experience shapes everything about how I show up for my clients. I'm not just familiar with these experiences — I've lived them, and I brought them with me into this work on purpose. I earned my Master of Social Work from USC over 15 years ago, and along the way became a certified yoga teacher and life coach — because the mind and body have to heal together. I work primarily with people of color, including students, young professionals, neurodivergent adults, burned-out helpers, and first-generation immigrants navigating identity and major life transitions. I love working with people who are highly capable but overwhelmed — people in the middle of big changes who are ready to stop just getting through the day and start actually thriving. If that sounds like you, I'd love to connect. I offer services in English and Spanish | Ofrezco servicios en inglés y español.
Our first session is really just a conversation — no pressure, no jumping straight into the deep end. Think of it as a chance for us to get to know each other and figure out if we're a good fit. I'll ask about what's bringing you in, what's been feeling hard lately, and what you're hoping life looks like on the other side of this. You don't need to have it all figured out or know exactly what to say. There's no wrong answer and nothing you need to prepare. Just show up as you are. I'll also share a little about how I work, what we might focus on together, and answer any questions you have about the process. By the end of our first session, my goal is for you to leave feeling heard, a little lighter, and clear on what our work together could look like. A few things I want you to know before we meet: this is a judgment-free space. You won't need to explain your cultural background, translate your family dynamics, or justify why something that "shouldn't" bother you still does. That context comes built in. You can show up in English, Spanish, or somewhere in between — whichever feels most natural that day. If you're nervous, that's completely okay. Most people are. First sessions can feel vulnerable, and I don't take that lightly. My job in that first hour is simply to make sure you feel safe enough to come back. Whether you've been in therapy before or this is your very first time, you belong here — and we'll figure out the rest together.
I bring the whole person into the room — not just the diagnosis. A lot of people come to me after trying therapy that felt clinical, surface-level, or like it just didn't get them. My greatest strength is creating a space where your culture, your family history, your nervous system, and your lived experience are all part of the work — not footnotes to it. Here's what I think sets my approach apart: I speak your language — literally and culturally. I offer therapy in both English and Spanish, and I work primarily with people of color, first-generation immigrants, and Latinx communities. You won't spend our sessions explaining code-switching, translating your family dynamics, or justifying cultural pressures that are very real even when they're hard to name. That understanding comes built in. I combine therapy with tools traditional therapy often leaves out. I'm not only a Licensed Clinical Social Worker — I'm also a certified yoga teacher and life coach. That means I can bring in breathwork, mindfulness, therapeutic movement, and somatic practices alongside evidence-based methods like CBT and Trauma-Focused CBT. We work with your mind and your body, because real healing usually requires both. I work well with high-functioning people who are quietly struggling. Many of my clients look like they have it together from the outside. They're capable, driven, and dependable — and completely exhausted. I specialize in helping people who have spent years in survival mode learn what it actually feels like to thrive. If you've been the strong one for so long you've forgotten what it feels like to not be — this is the space for that. I meet neurodivergent clients where they actually are. I have significant experience working with adults and adolescents with ADHD and neurodivergence who have spent years masking, overcompensating, or being told they just need to try harder. My approach is flexible, non-linear, and built around how your brain actually works — not how it's supposed to. I make therapy feel like a real conversation. Sessions with me are warm and collaborative. I don't sit behind a clipboard waiting for you to have a breakthrough. I'm present, direct when it's helpful, and genuinely invested in your progress. Clients often tell me they appreciated that I was honest with them, challenged them when they needed it, and made them feel like they actually mattered — not just as a client, but as a person. Results I'm proud of: I've supported clients through panic disorders, complex trauma, immigration stress, career burnout, ADHD diagnosis in adulthood, and some of life's hardest transitions — divorce, loss, identity shifts, and finding themselves on the other side of survival. Many come in just trying to get through the week and leave having rebuilt a relationship with themselves. That's the work I'm here for.
My ideal client is someone who has always been the strong one — dependable, capable, and deeply committed to the people around them. On the outside, they look like they have it together. On the inside, they're exhausted, overwhelmed, and quietly wondering when it's their turn. They're often first-generation — the first in their family to go to college, navigate corporate spaces, or seek therapy. They carry a unique kind of pressure that comes with being "the one who made it," and they've spent years code-switching, people-pleasing, and shrinking themselves to fit into spaces that weren't built for them. They may not have the language for what they're feeling yet, but they know something needs to change. Many of my clients are people of color — Latinx adults and adolescents, immigrants and children of immigrants — who want a therapist who understands their cultural context without needing it explained. They want to talk about anxiety, ADHD, burnout, or trauma without leaving their identity at the door. My ideal client might be a burned-out helper, educator, or someone who gives everything to others and has nothing left for themselves. Or a college student in the middle of a major identity shift, trying to figure out who they are outside of achievement and obligation. Or a neurodivergent adult who has spent years being told they just need to try harder — and is finally ready for support that actually fits their brain. What they all have in common is this: they're done just surviving. They're ready to actually feel like themselves again — maybe for the first time in a long time. If any of that sounds familiar, I'd love to connect
Other specialties
I identify as
Cash - $150 per session
Aetna
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
All Savers
Amerihealth Administrators
Anthem
Arlo
AvMed
Blue Cross
Blue Shield
Carelon Behavioral Health (Commercial)
Centivo
Cigna
Cigna - HealthEZ
EAP:Cigna
EAP:Evernorth
EAP:UnitedHealthcare/Optum
Evernorth
Golden Rule
GTEB
Harvard Pilgrim/UnitedHealthcare
IHSS Healthy Workers
Independence Administrators
Independence Blue Cross
L.A. Care Covered
L.A. Care Covered Direct
L.A. Care PASC-SEIU
Optum
OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
Oscar
Oxford
Scripps Health Plan
Sharp Health Plan
Surest (formerly Bind)
Sutter Health Plan
Tufts Health/Cigna
United Medical Resources
UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
UnitedHealthcare StudentResources
UnitedHealthcare/Optum
Trauma Informed Care
Everything I do is filtered through a trauma-informed lens — because what's happening now is often connected to what happened then. I've worked with clients navigating complex trauma, immigration stress, intergenerational wounds, and the kind of chronic stress that accumulates when you've had to stay strong for too long. In practice, this means I pay close attention to how trauma shows up in the body, in relationships, and in the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. I prioritize safety, trust, and your sense of control in every session. We never rush, we never push, and you always have a say in where we go. For many of my clients — especially those from immigrant families or communities that had to survive before they could heal — this is the first space where they've been able to slow down and actually feel safe. That's where the real work begins.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
For many of my clients, finding a therapist who truly gets their cultural background isn't a preference — it's a requirement. As a first-generation Salvadoran-American and daughter of refugee immigrants, I bring lived experience alongside clinical training. I work primarily with people of color, including Latinx and immigrant communities, first-generation Americans, and anyone who has ever felt like therapy wasn't really designed with them in mind. In our sessions, you won't need to explain code-switching, translate your family dynamics, justify cultural pressures, or shrink the parts of yourself that don't fit neatly into a Western framework of mental health. Race, ethnicity, immigration history, intergenerational trauma, and the weight of being "the first" in your family — these aren't side conversations. They're central to the work. I offer services in English and Spanish, and I meet you wherever you are — culturally, linguistically, and emotionally. Your identity isn't a barrier to healing. It's the starting point.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
You are the expert on your own life — my job is to help you reconnect with that knowing. Person-centered therapy means our sessions are guided by you: your pace, your priorities, your goals. I don't come in with a rigid agenda or a predetermined idea of what your healing should look like. Instead, I show up with genuine curiosity, unconditional positive regard, and a deep belief that you already have more capacity for growth than you may currently feel. This approach is especially meaningful for clients who have spent years being told how to feel, what to prioritize, or that their struggles weren't valid — including many first-gen and immigrant clients who learned early to minimize their own needs for the sake of others. In our work together, your experience is never minimized, your emotions are never too much, and your story is always worth telling. We build from there.
Mind-body approach
I'm not just a therapist — I'm also a certified yoga teacher, which means the body is always part of the conversation. Anxiety, trauma, and burnout don't just live in your thoughts. They live in your shoulders, your chest, your breath, and your nervous system. After years of working with clients who could intellectually understand their patterns but still couldn't feel relief, I know that talk therapy alone doesn't always create lasting change. Mind-body work helps you reconnect with physical cues you may have learned to ignore, regulate your nervous system between sessions, and create a sense of safety in your own body. I weave in breathwork, therapeutic movement, somatic awareness, and mindfulness in a way that feels accessible and grounded — not intimidating — regardless of your experience with yoga or meditation. You don't need a mat or a meditation practice. You just need a willingness to tune in.
Strength-Based
Strength-based therapy means we build on that foundation. We identify your resilience, your values, your capabilities, and the coping strategies that have carried you this far — and we use those as the launchpad for growth. This approach is especially powerful for people of color and first-gen clients who have been conditioned to see their struggles as personal failures rather than responses to real systems and real pressure. It's also deeply effective for high-functioning clients with anxiety or ADHD who are so focused on what isn't working that they've lost sight of how much they're actually doing right. You are not your diagnosis, your hardest season, or your worst day. We start there and build forward.