My specialties.
My specialty is in working with trauma and the ways that trauma presents itself
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emotional dysregulation like anxiety, anger & depression
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maladaptive coping like addiction or disordered eating
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cognitive distortions like ruminating and catastrophizing
Somatic therapy.
I integrate somatic practices into therapy. Basically, feelings are not just experiences that happen in your brain. It's a felt experience and can be used in session. I help my clients to bring the wisdom of their bodies into their conscious mind to be utilized in session.
Polyvagal-informed mind-body therapy.
Talk therapy that includes somatic elements, grounded in the Polyvagal Theory.
I do what we know works - I focus on the therapeutic relationship and I adapt to the needs of my individual clients. That means two things:
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I listen, I validate, I don't judge, I expect and assume the best of my clients, make goals with the client and consistently ask for feedback.
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I use various techniques based on what the client needs at the current stage of treatment: somatic awareness, in-depth processing, psychoeducation, grounding, looking at thoughts, just being quiet and listening or even calling you out on your stuff when it's needed. I adapt.
Who I can't work with.
Unfortunately, I am not currently accepting:
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clients who are homicidal, have psychotic symptoms, or I otherwise do not think I can help.
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clients who cannot pay my full hourly rate.
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child therapy clients; I am not equipped to do so adequately in my current office.
Interest list.
If you're interested in receiving individual therapy from me and live in California, please email me a sentence about what you would like to work on - justin@justinlmft.com.
As of this time, I cannot guarantee I can work with you, so please continue to search for an appropriate provider. I wrote this blog article about finding a trauma therapist that may be of use. Use the therapist finder through Psychology Today for more local options.
Licensure.
My license
I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (#99147) in CA, able to work with individuals, families, couples and groups.
Why only CA?
Each state has laws in place of who can provide therapy and to whom. Typically, if you provide therapy from one state, you can't do so over state lines to someone in a different state.
Payment considerations.
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Session rate is at the very top of this page
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Payment is done automatically after each session through Stripe, using a credit or debit card on file with simple Practice.
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I do not take insurance
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I do not do sliding scale payments
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I can provide you with a super bill upon request