ABOUT
Hi, I'm Samantha — a Licensed Therapist in West Los Angeles.
I'm a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #MFT99953) based in West Los Angeles. I work with adolescents, adults and couples struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, eating disorders, and adjusting to life's tricky transitions — or what I like to call learning how to be a human, which quite frankly we are all doing at every age.
My mission is to offer you guidance, tools and a safe space to help you heal and become a more authentic version of yourself.
This journey looks different for everyone, so I tailor my approach to each client's individual needs. I am both gentle and direct by nature and place a strong importance on the alliance I form with my clients. It is my job to stay present, compassionate and attuned to each person I have the honor of working with.
You don't have to go through life's challenges alone. We can walk through this together.
Treatment Modalities:
Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Therapy— understanding the deeper story beneath the patterns
EMDR Therapy— reprocessing trauma and painful memories so they lose their grip
Internal Family Systems Informed Therapy— getting to know the protective parts of you with curiosity instead of judgment
Dialectical Behavioral Informed Therapy — practical skills for regulating big emotions
Spirituality work & integrative approaches — because healing isn't only cognitive
EDUCATION AND TRAININgS:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) Training I The Institute for Creative Mindfulness
Trauma-Informed Yoga & Somatics Basics I Collective Resilience
Internal Family Systems for Anxiety, Depression, Addiction and More I Dr. Richard Schwartz and Dr. Frank Anderson
Altered States of Body and Mind: A psychoanalytic exploration of addiction and eating disorders I The Los Angeles Institute of Psychoanalytic Studies
Supervision and consultation with Dr. Jennifer Schneider I Schneider Psychology Group
Antioch University I Masters in Clinical Psychology
University of Maryland I B.A. in English
Curious about EMDR? This video explains more—or read about EMDR therapy in my practice.
Why I do this work
Being a human isn’t always easy. Let’s talk about it: What narrative are you subscribing to? What messages are you internalizing from the outside world (from family to social media to entertainment outlets)? Are you allowing yourself to be defined by the true essence of your being or by a belief and value system that is not your own?
Let me share a few truths that I hope will help ease your mind: You are not alone. You have agency over the way you live your life. You are entitled to all of your feelings. You are [more than] enough.
It’s okay if digesting these truths is challenging right now. That’s why you are here.
It took me a long time to learn that when you start to love yourself (really, truly, deeply), when you drop judgments (of both yourself and others) and when you remain open and receptive to what life has in store, big shifts start to happen.
