Individual Therapy · San Diego

Individual therapy in San Diego

Whatever brought you here, you don't have to sort it out on your own. As an individual therapist in San Diego, meeting in person and online across California and Florida, I help people work through anxiety, low mood, old patterns, and the seasons when life changes faster than you can catch up.

Accepting new individual & couples clientsLMFT #10780613+ years of experienceLicensed in CA & FLLyra Health accepted

What we can work on together

You don't need a diagnosis, a crisis, or the right words to begin. Most people arrive with some version of "something isn't working, and I'm tired of white-knuckling it."

Anxiety

The mind that won't stop rehearsing. Racing thoughts, tight chest, planning for problems that haven't happened, and exhaustion from being on alert all day.

In session: we slow the spiral down, find where it starts, and build responses you can use in the moment.

Depression and low mood

Heaviness, flatness, or a life that has quietly narrowed. Things you used to enjoy feel like effort, and rest never quite restores you.

In session: we look at what has fallen away, and take small, doable steps back toward it.

Self-esteem

The critical voice that narrates your day, holds you to a standard you would never apply to a friend, and calls it motivation.

In session: we trace where that voice learned its lines, and practice speaking to yourself differently.

Life transitions

A move, a new baby, a career change, a loss, a relationship ending. Even good changes ask you to become someone slightly new.

In session: we make room for what you're grieving and get clear on what you actually want next.

TraumaGrief and lossWork stress and burnoutParentingRelationship patternsIdentity and belonging

Thoughts, feelings, and actions are one loop

A lot of individual work starts here. What you think shapes what you feel, what you feel drives what you do, and what you do quietly confirms the thought. It's a closed circuit, which is why willpower alone rarely breaks it. The good news is that you can enter the loop at any point.

shapesdrivesconfirms the thoughtThoughts"I'm going to embarrassmyself in there."Feelingsdread, racing heart,a knot in the stomachActionscancel, avoid, stay quiet,leave early
Thoughts"I'm going to embarrass myself in there."
shapes
Feelingsdread, racing heart, a knot in the stomach
drives
Actionscancel, avoid, stay quiet, leave early

which confirms the thought, and round it goes

Where we break into the loop

Sometimes the fastest opening is the thought, and we test whether it's actually true. Sometimes it's the body, and we work on settling it first, because a nervous system in alarm doesn't listen to reason. Sometimes it's the action, and we run a small experiment that gives the thought new evidence to work with. Which door we use depends on you, not on a manual.

How I work, in plain language

I take an integrative approach, which means I draw on a few evidence-based methods and shape them around your goals rather than fitting you to a method.

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyCBT

The loop above, worked deliberately. We catch the thought patterns feeding anxiety and low mood, examine them honestly, and practice new responses until they become available to you without effort.

MindfulnessPresent-moment awareness

Most distress lives in replaying the past or rehearsing the future. We train attention to settle in the present, which calms the body's stress response and opens a gap between a feeling and your reaction to it.

Solution-Focused TherapyBuilding on what works

You've already survived hard things, and there are moments when the problem is smaller. We get curious about those, and use them to find the smallest next step that actually moves you.

Narrative TherapyYou are not the problem

We all carry stories about who we are, and some were written by our worst moments. This work separates you from the problem so you can re-read those stories and author ones that fit your values.

In San Diego, or online across California and Florida

My office is in San Diego (Scripps Ranch, near the I-15 in the 92131 area), an easy drive from Mira Mesa, Tierrasanta, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. If getting across town is the thing that would stop you, we can meet online instead. I see individual clients by video anywhere in California and Florida, and a 50 minute session fits inside a lunch break.

Common questions about individual therapy

What can individual therapy help with?

Most people come to me for anxiety, depression or low mood, self-esteem, trauma, or a life transition that has knocked things off balance. Plenty also come because something feels off and they can't quite name it yet. You don't need a diagnosis or a tidy explanation to start. Naming it is often the first piece of the work.

What if I've never been to therapy before?

Then we start at the beginning, and I'll walk you through it. You don't need to prepare anything or arrive with the right words. The first session is mostly me getting to know you: your history, what's happening now, and what you'd like to be different. You set the pace of what you share.

Do you offer individual therapy online?

Yes. You're welcome in my San Diego office, and I also see individual clients online across California and Florida. Many people mix the two, meeting in person when it works and switching to video on busy weeks, so therapy fits around work and family instead of competing with it.

How do I know if I need therapy, or if I'm just stressed?

There's no threshold you have to cross first. If something has been sitting with you for a while, if the same worry keeps circling back, or if you're managing but would rather not be managing alone, that's reason enough. A free 15-minute call is a low-stakes way to find out whether this would help.

How much does an individual therapy session cost?

A 50 minute individual therapy session is $185. The first 15-minute consultation is free, and I'm an in-network provider with Lyra Health.

Ready when you are

You don't have to have it figured out before you call. Tell me what's going on in a free 15-minute conversation, and we'll work out whether I'm the right fit.

Request a Free 15-Minute Consult