Find a Therapist near Malibu, CA

I have been using the Gottman Method in couples therapy to successfully transform romantic relationships for 11+ years. This method is based on extensive research on what tools "master couples" use to have successful relationships. I have seen this method turn around relationships again and again, even when the couple had lost all hope for a better future. I will ask you to work hard to achieve this success, but I will be there every step of the way to support you. I know taking this step can seem scary, but your relationship is worth it! I also work with individual clients. I strive to listen deeply, point out destructive patterns with objectivity, and support my clients unconditionally in discovering their true self. I help them listen to that empathic voice inside that challenges them to make change despite outdated coping mechanisms from their upbringing and life experiences. I endeavor to be insightful, nonjudgmental and creative. By using a gentle sense of humor and a supportive, caring style I am able to challenge my clients to achieve the goals they set for themselves.

“You’re Not Broken—You’re Stuck. Let’s Get You Unstuck.” As a therapist in practice for 20 years, I’ve worked with individuals and couples from all walks of life, each with their own unique story. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Your experiences, background, trauma, and relationships are yours alone, and your therapy should reflect that. I’m a proactive therapist. This means we won’t just talk—we’ll work together to understand what’s holding you back and build tools to move forward. Whether you’re navigating anxiety, grief, life transitions, or relationship struggles, I provide a tailored, compassionate space where growth can happen. For couples, I help partners break through communication barriers, heal from betrayals, and rebuild connection. I understand how vulnerable it can feel to come to therapy together, and I meet you both with respect, curiosity, and practical strategies that get results. I offer sessions in-person in Los Angeles and virtually for clients across California. Clients often tell me they appreciate my warmth, honesty, and ability to gently challenge old patterns. You don’t have to do this alone. Together, we’ll work toward the life and relationships you want.

I utilize multiple approaches to support clients in stabilization, increasing self-efficacy, and self-love that empowers them to develop strong boundaries, communication, and self-determination through self-advocacy. We collaborate on the best approaches for readiness to reprocess trauma through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and set the stage for a better experience in their relationships, careers, and daily lives. Let's work together to make some serious changes and get you living your peace!

My approach to helping is authentic, direct, and deeply compassionate. I work from an evidence-based and relational framework, integrating cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, mentalization-based treatment, and interpersonal therapy. I tailor treatment to each client’s developmental stage, strengths, and goals, helping adolescents and adults build insight, strengthen emotional regulation, and develop resilience. At the core of my work is the belief that meaningful, lasting change happens within a safe, trusting, and collaborative therapeutic relationship where clients feel genuinely understood and supported.

I love working with people who have complex, complicated pasts. We are indeed shaped by all that has happened to us. However, when we assess what happened and truly understand it (with a new, more informed perspective), we can choose how we want to move forward. I love supporting people with a big vision for the future. So often, life changing events can propel us toward helping others and making the most out of our own lives. As long as we can cope with the uncertainty and self-doubt that too often accompanies these big ideas, we have great opportunity to make an impact in the world. I love supporting my clients in honing their mindset, so they can approach work and life more effectively. When you don't address your blind spots, you can find yourself burned out, unable to leave your clients' concerns at the office, and having difficulty caring for pretty much anything. I find these conditions - compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and what I call Sacrificial Helping Syndrome (giving more than you have to the people you serve) - in a lot of professionals who help others.

Most people experience difficulty, transition, or change at some point, whether in their personal lives, jobs, or relationships. Families face many pressures in today's world, and seeking therapy can be a challenging decision. But understanding your need for support is a sign of profound courage. It can be difficult, though, to find a therapist who listens to you, understands your challenges, and really connects with you. I aim to provide a supportive and warm environment in which clients feel safe developing new skills and nurturing their confidence. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist, and I specialize in helping children, teens, couples, individuals, and families, using a nonjudgmental and compassionate approach. I work with my clients to help them tackle interpersonal challenges, relationship struggles, family difficulties, conflicts between parent and child, anxiety, depression, panic disorders, substance abuse, trauma, mood disorders, life transitions, and grief. I aim to help my clients reduce their symptoms while understanding the underlying issues that help problematic thoughts and behaviors to continue. Therapy helps you understand why you choose ineffective behaviors and enables you to make lasting, positive changes in your life.

Living with an eating issue can feel exhausting and isolating, even when you are doing your best to hold things together. You may be capable, thoughtful, and self-aware, yet still feel stuck in familiar struggles with food or your body, worn down by the constant mental effort that often accompanies eating issues. And still, part of you may be ready for something different. Therapy can offer a place to slow down and begin to quiet the noise around food and body image. I specialize in working with teens and adults struggling with eating issues and body image concerns, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and patterns of disordered eating that can feel confusing, exhausting, or hard to put into words. Many clients seek me out for a thoughtful, steady approach, where therapy feels contained, genuinely supportive, and individualized. I aim to create a space where you do not feel rushed, judged, or reduced to symptoms, but understood as a whole person navigating complex challenges around food, control, self-worth, and emotion. I am a California-licensed psychologist providing online therapy throughout California, with experience across inpatient hospital settings, partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient programs (IOP), and outpatient care. My clinical training includes psychodynamic and attachment-based psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT), intuitive eating, and Health at Every Size® (HAES) principles, as well as a certificate in psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy through LAISPS. Across more than two decades of practice, my focus has remained consistent: helping clients develop greater self-trust, balance, and connection to themselves and others. Therapy is collaborative, individualized, and grounded in both clinical expertise and compassion. When indicated, I collaborate with medical providers and dietitians to support comprehensive care. Whether you are seeking help for a longstanding eating issue, newer concerns about food or body image, or feel stuck despite prior treatment, therapy offers a place to slow down, make sense of what is happening, and move toward meaningful, lasting change at a pace that feels manageable. A life where food and body concerns no longer dominate your thoughts is possible. You do not have to keep cycling through the same patterns, and you do not have to do it alone. I invite you to reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.

I facilitate symptom relief in children through the therapeutic clienttherapist relationship. The method of conducting therapy is Psychodynamic and is oriented through the medium of art, play therapy and family therapy. The modality of therapy is both individual and family therapy with the focus on symptom relief in the child.

Let's embrace the future and make it different than what it might be. Together, we will work towards finding a way to transcend your Anxiety, overcome Depression, resolve Relationship Issues, & get your vibrant energy going again. Whether you're seeking personal growth or enduring extensive distress, it can be essential to have a helpful guide along the way. I'm a Clinical Psychologist and an adult generalist, having worked with many forms of psychological suffering and difficulties in living. Our therapeutic interaction and strategy will be tailor-made to your needs and respectful of your desire and readiness for change. I offer an integrative approach, which means I carefully draw from a wide-ranging toolbox and bring together different aspects of a variety of well-founded psychotherapies and employ them for what they're best at. Good therapy helps you to open up to and pursue what is truly important. We'll work collaboratively towards your self-defined goals. The process of choosing a psychologist can be very personal, so please contact me to go over your questions and concerns. You can check out my website through the button below.

Please, call me JJ. Truth is, it's all about connection. You need to feel connected to your Therapist as you both work together. No matter how many theoretical orientations a therapist has at their fingertips, it will never replace human connection. My job is to create a safe therapeutic relationship that will allow you to explore and possibly heal past (or current) experiences. My passion is working with relationships... and communication... communication is the foundation of most relationships! When relationships become challenging, or when LIFE becomes challenging, you can become stuck in old, possibly negative patterns. I believe there is always a way to become unstuck and evolve through the challenges. My style relies heavily on Gottman method (an evidenced based framework used with couples), Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Attachment (how has your experience growing up impacted current relationships?), Psychoanalysis (do your current relationships indicate a past pattern or experience that is "haunting" your ability to be authentic? Did experiences in your past create insecurity, shame, guilt, fear or anxiety?), and finally humor. Yep, humor. Because who says therapy can't have moments of lightness? I might argue that the lightness is a guide through the darkness, and that's what I hope to offer to you.