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Therapists for college students near UCLA

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Adriana Valdez
Clinical Social Work/Therapist
La CaƱada Flintridge, CA
Accepting new clients

Hi, I am a first generation Latina and the first to graduate from college in my family. I decided I wanted to be a therapist when I took my first sociology class in community college at Pasadena City College, where my life changed thanks to the support and guidance I received from my counselor and the PUENTE Project. I am now a proud private practice owner who has two children who have taught me more than any school program could. Both of my kids have learning disabilities and one is autistic. I have dedicated most of my time to learning how to navigate the educational system and advocating for their educational needs. Because of my personal experiences with my children, I am dedicated to supporting autistic individuals through neuro-affirming therapy and have guided many people in discovering and embracing their own neurodivergence. I have worked with many clients to help them access school and work accommodations and to develop personalized sensory self-care strategies. If you feel under a lot of stress, like you are working harder than the average student only to play catch up, feel burnt out no matter how you take care of yourself, and constantly feel disconnected even from friends and family, I am here to help you figure things out, one thing at a time. If you are a student who is under a lot of stress and is experiencing anxiety and/or depression, I am here to help. Or who feels alone and disconnected from others, I am here to help.

Photo of Ashraf Hosseini
Ashraf Hosseini
Marriage & Family Therapist
Torrance, CA
Accepting new clients

As a licensed psychotherapist I work individuals and couples. As an educator for over 25 years, I have also worked with colleges students, particularly international students, undocumented students, and the underserved population. I firmly believe that from childhood to adult years we face myriad of challenges, i.e relational, emotional, and life transitions. During these times if the right support is not available to us, we compensate by activating parts of our Self that may manifest themselves as anxiety, depression, trauma reactions, compulsive behaviors (e.g. gambling, substance abuse, internet addiction), etc. As a result, relationships with our others, as well as with ourselves, are affected. My goal is to guide you through healing these parts leading to a self who is more emotionally aware and connected. You will develop an awareness of your patterns, learn to live with more harmony in the present, and build stronger relationships.

Photo of Brittany Perez
Brittany Perez
Licensed Professional Counselor
South Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

Welcome to Cultivate Grace Counseling and Consultation Services! I am a Registered Play Therapistā„¢ (RPTā„¢) and I specialize in therapy for children and teens navigating emotional ups and downs, life transitions and stress related to adjustment challenges. Through play therapy, parent-child relational work, and solution focused techniques, my goal is to help young people build confidence, strengthen emotional regulation, and feel more connected at home and at school. Parents are an important part of the process. I offer consultation and practical guidance to help you feel more equipped, supported, and less alone along the way.

Photo of Lauren Rodarte
Lauren Rodarte
Marriage & Family Therapist
South Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

I'm passionate about helping adults and teens heal emotional wounds, nurture healthy relationships, and enhance self-esteem. If you tend to overthink, feel unmotivated, or simply struggle to enjoy the present moment, I'm here to help. I provide a space where you can express and sort through unhelpful thoughts and emotions that you may not feel able to process elsewhere. I am dedicated to helping you rediscover confidence and peace within yourself and in your relationships.

Photo of Mal Ragunathan
Mal Ragunathan
Clinical Social Work/Therapist
South Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

I work with individuals who are seeking support with living a richer, less restricted life navigating anxiety, difficult transitions, complex trauma, and challenges with relationships.The process of turning inward in therapy - to interrogate how your present is being colored by the past and bringing understanding to patterns of relating to yourself and others can be incredibly transformative and life changing.

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Spark All Wellness
Group practice
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

We are a private therapy practice located San Francisco and Pasadena specializing in psychotherapy for women and children in individual and group settings. Spark All Wellness helps children and mamas through difficult life situations, trauma and the challenges of parenting. Our team specializes in EMDR, CBT, Play Therapy & Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy and offer both in-person and telehealth sessions.

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Kevin Finn
Marriage & Family Therapist
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

I believe that we all have an innate healing power within us, and that developing a safe and caring relationship with a therapist can be a wonderful means toward enlivening this power. By going within, we can discover the agency to overcome any obstacle and can bring into being a renewed sense of hope, purpose, and a life of fulfillment. I come from a holistic, humanistic, and mindfulness/spiritually-oriented tradition who believe that a therapist is only as skilled as they are evolved, or self-actualized themselves. I specialize in trauma, dissociation, & complex post traumatic stress disorder. I have trained in EMDR and utilize Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Ketamine as a means of accessing the Self. I work with adults and children alike, and enjoy incorporating meditation, art, and play therapy. As a former creative producer with 20 years in entertainment, I also receive a great deal of satisfaction working with artists in the industry. I provide a warm and compassionate space of acceptance that encourages growth to unfold. By expressing feelings openly and connecting authentically we learn to resolve family and relationship issues naturally. Inevitably, this clears a path for greater intimacy with oneself and others, uncovering the full measure of our potential for love and joy.

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Rosa Lizarraga
Marriage & Family Therapist
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

Hello, I work with individuals seeking a better understanding of themselves and their relationships and wanting to improve how they manage their emotions and anxiety. I work collaboratively with you on developing self-discovery while providing a nurturing, supportive environment- loosening habituated patterns of avoidance, self-doubt, fear, and self-sabotage. My job is to help your nervous system heal from these enduring burdens, so we can reduce persistent feelings of self-doubt, inadequacy, and dissatisfaction. The beauty of this work is that it emboldens us to be on a continuing process of self-discovery every day. Over time, clients report feeling a deep sense of internal relief which ultimately promotes feelings of validation, acceptance, appreciation, empowerment, purpose, and love. Message me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.

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Dr. Akasa Tseng
Psychologist
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

During my clinical training at a college counseling center, I worked closely with students navigating anxiety, self-doubt, emotional overwhelm, relationship difficulties, trauma, academic pressures, and major life transitions. I also currently serve as a clinical supervisor for doctoral trainees in a graduate psychology program. As a contributing author in a Cambridge Scholars Publishing volume exploring the transcultural unconscious, I am especially attentive to the ways psychological suffering can emerge across emotional, relational, somatic, cultural, ancestral, and intergenerational layers—particularly for individuals navigating between multiple cultural worlds, identities, or systems of meaning. In addition to my clinical work, I draw insight from four decades of lived experience across business, music, holistic practices, and cross-cultural traditions, which continue to inform my understanding of psychological resilience, creativity, identity, and the complexity of human experience. Many of the individuals I work with appear highly capable on the outside while privately struggling with a persistent sense of disconnection from themselves or uncertainty about who they are beyond achievement and external expectations. If you are trying to meet academic, familial, cultural, or social demands while also struggling with questions of identity, self-worth, meaning, or belonging, therapy can offer a space where your inner life is approached with greater curiosity and depth rather than reduced to productivity or performance. Therapy may also help you develop the psychological flexibility to hold the tension between external expectations and your own emerging questions about identity, meaning, and authenticity without forcing one side of yourself to disappear. I work particularly well with students and young adults who are psychologically curious and interested in understanding the deeper patterns shaping their emotional lives. This may especially resonate if you tend to organize your inner life and external world primarily through thinking, analysis, and intellectual understanding. The capacity to reflect, reason, and make meaning from complexity can be a profound strength that supports resilience, creativity, and achievement. At the same time, thinking can sometimes become a way of creating distance from emotional or somatic experience, especially when vulnerability or relational life once felt difficult to navigate. You may genuinely enjoy ideas, self-reflection, and intellectual exploration, while also sensing that certain emotional experiences remain difficult to access, articulate, or fully feel. Together, we may explore how early relational experiences, unconscious dynamics, cultural and family histories, and internalized expectations influence your self-esteem, relationships, perfectionism, emotional regulation, and sense of meaning or purpose. My approach is psychodynamic and depth-oriented while also integrating evidence-based trauma treatment, including EMDR. Therapy is not only focused on symptom reduction, but also on helping you develop a more reflective and compassionate relationship with yourself. I value both the importance of making practical progress in daily life and the longer process of psychological development that unfolds as your inner and outer worlds begin to come into deeper dialogue. For many young adults, this stage of life involves more than adapting to social expectations—it can also become an important period of questioning, identity formation, and emotional integration. Therapy can provide a space for you to think deeply, process difficult experiences, and cultivate a more grounded and genuine sense of self.

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Valeriya Bauer
Marriage & Family Therapist
Agoura Hills, CA
Accepting new clients

Many of the students I work best with feel pressure to "have it all together" on the outside—yet inside, they're overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, relationship challenges, or past trauma. They may be high-achieving, creative, or deeply caring individuals who feel stuck, disconnected, or unsure how to move forward. In our work together, I provide a warm, grounded space to explore what’s really going on beneath the surface. I use practical, body-based tools along with talk therapy to help you feel more empowered, connected, and aligned with who you truly are. Therapy doesn’t have to be about fixing what’s ā€œwrongā€ā€”it can be about reconnecting with your inner strength and learning new ways to care for yourself.

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Emma Tasini
Marriage & Family Therapist
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

If you feel things in a big way, you are in the right place. You may be highly sensitive, an empath, or feeling the weight of injustices. I work with creative people who feel things deeply. I support in processing trauma, anxiety, life transitions, relationship issues, people pleasing, gender expression, and sexuality. I am committed to social justice and believe mental health does not exist in a vacuum. We are influenced by the society and world around us. My approach to therapy is rooted in values of anti-oppression and acknowledging the systemic factors that impact wellbeing.

Photo of Christina Sandman
Christina Sandman
Psychologist
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

You may be trying to figure out who you are and what you want to do, possibly for the first time. You are probably navigating big changes in relationships, whether that is making new friends, figuring out where you fit in, communicating with professors/advisors, or redefining relationships with family. It can be overwhelming. While this can be an incredibly stressful time, it is also full of possibility and growth. You don't have to figure it out alone - therapy can be a wonderful place where you can slow down and get the support you need and deserve. I absolutely love working with undergraduate and graduate students. Many people who work with me are navigating something invisible that makes them feel different - whether that is anxiety or depression, a chronic health condition, grief or trauma, relationship concerns, life transitions, or parts of your identity that may be unseen. I am especially passionate about working with artists/creatives, the LGBTQ+ community, and people who feel their emotions deeply. My style is empathetic, attentive, non-judgmental, and collaborative. I seek to create an affirming space where all parts of you that you wish to explore are welcomed. I bring careful listening and offer tools to help you feel more grounded, let go of unhelpful narratives, communicate effectively, and build better relationships with yourself and others.

Photo of Hanah Matson
Hanah Matson
Marriage & Family Therapist
Pasadena, CA
Accepting new clients

I am a LMFT who is passionate about providing excellent care for my clients. Although I have a diverse range of experience, I l specialize in working with anxiety, depression, emotional regulation, trauma, domestic violence and abuse, and other emotional/behavioral interpersonal issues. I work well with teens, young adults, adults, couples, families, and group therapy. My approach is often client-centered as I adapt my approach depending on the client I am working with, but I tend to work from an existential/humanistic, CBT/DBT, and psychodynamic approach.

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K & B Therapy, Inc.
Group practice
Los Angeles, CA
Accepting new clients

To the strong ones, You’re the one everyone leans on—but who do you lean on when the weight gets too heavy? You’ve built a life around being the reliable one, the fixer, and the steady hand in every storm. Whether in your career or your family, you are the person with the answers, the one who 'carries it well.' But high-functioning isn't the same as high-flourishing, and the pressure to maintain that strong exterior has become a silent tax on your peace of mind. Being the 'strong one' is a lonely place to be. While you’re busy taking care of the world, your own needs have become an after-thought. You deserve a space where you don’t have to perform, hold the posture, or take care of anyone else. We specialize in working with high-capacity individuals who are ready to trade "performing strength" for authentic resilience. Our approach is a blend of deep empathy and direct, results-oriented insight. This is your sanctuary—a place to deconstruct the pressure to have all the answers and finally breathe. You’ve taken care of everyone else long enough. It’s time someone held the space for you. Contact us today to schedule your free 15 minute phone consultation.

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WALTZ Trauma Care and Therapy
Group practice
San Francisco, CA
Accepting new clients

We are trauma therapists who provide trauma-focused therapy through EMDR therapy, relational trauma therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), AEDP, and IFS. We work with BIPOC & AAPI students and international students who have a history of trauma or PTSD. If you are a student who is struggling with past or ongoing difficult family dynamics, a history of eating disorders, substance use issues, sexual assaults or abuse in childhood, or struggling with intimate relationships, friendships, and social relationships, please reach out. We can help! We help you process what happened so you are no longer stuck in the past or in pain.

Photo of Jessica Taylor Vara, LMFT
Jessica Taylor Vara, LMFT
Clinical Social Work/Therapist
Manhattan Beach, CA
Accepting new clients

Everyone thinks you’ve got it all figured out. On the outside, you're doing great... But inside? You’re overwhelmed, exhausted, and barely keeping it together. The pressure to succeed, to be perfect, to have a plan is nonstop. You’re constantly overthinking, overcommitting, and overextending yourself just to stay afloat. It’s not sustainable. You might feel disconnected from your friends, your goals, even yourself. It’s like you’re stuck in survival mode, and deep down, you know there has to be more to life than just pushing through. If you’ve been through hard things in the past, they may still be showing up in your present quietly shaping how you see yourself and how you react to the world. Trauma has a way of doing that. It can plant seeds of self-doubt that show up in everything: your confidence, your relationships, your sense of belonging. With EMDR therapy, we’ll get to the root of those patterns so they stop running the show. EMDR helps your nervous system feel safe again, so you can respond to life instead of reacting out of fear or stress. When we reprocess those painful experiences, the memories lose their grip and you start to feel lighter, more grounded, and more at ease in who you are. Real change is possible. You can feel better. You can feel like yourself again. Let’s take the first step together. Call me for a free consultation.

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Celia Petersen
Clinical Social Work/Therapist
Gardena, CA
Accepting new clients

Have you ever wondered if life could feel less stressful or more fulfilling? Whether you’re in school, starting your career, or navigating life as a first-generation adult, I’m here to support you. Together we’ll find practical ways to handle challenges, build coping skills, and help you feel more confident and resilient, one step at a time. During our sessions, you’ll have a caring, judgment-free space where your story matters. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other proven approaches to help you shift negative patterns, tap into your strengths, and make meaningful progress toward your goals. Ready to find out if we’re the right fit? Reach out for a free 15-minute consultation. I accept insurance and sliding scale. I offer flexible telehealth so starting therapy is convenient and accessible. Let’s connect and take your next step forward together.

Photo of Marie-Christine Nizzi
Marie-Christine Nizzi
Psychologist
Cambridge, MA
Accepting new clients

Hello, I specialize in supporting high achievers in academia, sport, and medicine. As a bi-cultural neuropsychologist, I can help navigating questions of identity / cultural adjustment for international and multicultural clients. I see clients in most States: CA, IA, MA, NH & all PsyPact States (see list here: https://psypact.org/mpage/psypactmap). Do you struggle with perfectionism? Are you at a transition point in your career and in search of guidance for your next steps? Despite your achievements, you can never fully relax and you feel like you just have to keep going? We will work together to help you find a sense of direction, so you can appreciate what you have accomplished, and enjoy building the life you truly want! For more information, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation at 603-585-5047. -- Ph.D. #1 from the Sorbonne University, Paris, France Ph.D. #2 from Harvard University UCLA Clinical Faculty & Dartmouth Researcher All services provided in English & in French

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Kayla Montaque
Clinical Social Work/Therapist
Los Angeles, CA
Accepting new clients

Hello there! In my approach to therapy, I emphasize empathy and active listening, creating a compassionate environment where my clients feel heard and validated, fostering a safe space for exploration and growth. I also incorporate positive self-talk and affirmations, encouraging clients to build resilience and self-esteem. My communication style is characterized by warmth, active listening, and empathy. I foster an open and non-judgmental atmosphere, encouraging clients to express themselves freely. My compassionate approach combines encouragement and positive reinforcement, helping clients feel supported as they explore their thoughts and feelings.

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Jacqueline Cordova
Pre-Licensed Professional
Los Angeles, CA
Accepting new clients

I went into psychology to address what I believe is a growing imbalance of work/life stress and personal guilt in modern day society. I want to help clients struggling with this both individually and as couples or families. Experiences from past careers has given me an appreciation for diverse learning methods and cultural attitudes, as well as how to be flexible and creative in my coaching with clients of all ages. Managing the ups and downs of any chronic condition is the unacknowledged full-time job of millions of people, and yet there is little credit given for it. I am here to be supportive, inventive, encouraging, and sympathetic to clients struggling with the ongoing stress of managing their lives, and help them lead an enjoyable life no matter what they may be handling. I believe that when people connect, lives get better. I have always been an advocate for others’ growth, and enjoy helping people gain insight into themselves and their world. As a marriage and family therapist, I help individuals address elements of their lives and themselves that are interfering with their relationships. As an individual therapist, I focus on unlocking and identifying core motivations and strengths in clients that are unique to them, and which often provide clients with the direction or guidance they are seeking. My psychotherapy practice is tailored to give clients exactly the kind of supportive opportunity they need to focus inward, realign with their personal needs, and heal from stress as they learn to manage it. I have a warm communication style that clients describe as encouraging, analytical, and direct. I use a Cognitive Behavioral approach, with elements of Emotionally Focused Therapy to explore deeper memories, and Solution-Focused principles to create measurable progress between sessions.

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