Find a Therapist in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

I love helping people overcome obstacles in their lives and learn to THRIVE. I have a strong passion for encouraging the strengths within each individual. Since no two people are exactly alike, I modify my approach and style to address your specific struggles and to meet your individual needs. Seeking therapy can be a very scary endeavor, especially if you were raised with any negative stigmas around mental health issues. I will work hard at helping you feel safe in the process of finding the right therapist and removing negative assumptions and concerns. Please feel free to ask questions and gather the information you need to find the right fit for you! Let me help you live life to the fullest and fulfill your dreams! Please contact me if you think I would be a good fit for your needs. Best, Dr. Debra

Lisa Bahar is a licensed psychotherapist who practices out of Newport Beach and Laguna Niguel, California providing individual, couples, family and group therapy. Lisa Bahar provides DBT Informed Skills Training for clients seeking "life skills" or who have difficulties managing emotions, communicating effectively, dealing with stress and anxiety. The DBT Informed Skills Training groups are based on Marsha M. Linehan's DBT Second Edition Handouts and Worksheets which provides the most up to date material on DBT skills and trainings. Lisa's first career in the cinema has brought her to a unique intervention in her therapeutic approach called Cinema Therapy, which uses film stories to create connection to experiences clients may be experiencing. She utilizes Cinema Therapy in all aspects of her groups and psychotherapy based on the client's need and interest. Lisa Bahar also serves as a consultant to 100s of media outlets including radio, television, magazines, blogs, books and internet magazines and outlets by providing her insights on mental health.

Whole Wellness Therapy is an evidence-based practice, comprised of experienced therapists who offer a compassionate approach to facing life’s challenges together. We help people change their lives, their relationships, and even their brains, as we uncover all the different facets contributing to the “stuckness” we can all so easily find ourselves in. The best thing about our therapists, is that they’re all human too! We treat our relationships with our clients as an opportunity to grow alongside each other, through this shared experience of humanness on our continued quest to wholeness. As we continue to expand our education, knowledge, and experience, we empower our clients to become experts of their own lives.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience providing services to children, adolescents, adults, and families. My team of expert clinicians and I provide evidence-based therapies from a range of approaches, state-of-the-art assessments and testing, expressive arts therapy, in-school and in-home services, medical services, and neurofeedback. With integrated, holistic, and interdisciplinary services, I can address concerns for the whole child, the family, and work, college, and home environments. We use modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), behavioral, family systems, psychodynamic, play therapy, parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), expressive arts therapy, trauma therapy, psychological and psycho-educational assessments, and neurofeedback. As a team, our mission is to help you and your family members be the best you can be. We aim to reduce challenges in depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive (OCD) behaviors, learning, spectrum and social skills, family relations, parenting, disordered eating, attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD), grief and loss, and trauma. We work closely with you and your family members, and collaborate with schools, colleges, work, and medical professionals. I completed my Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and my post-doctoral fellowship from the University of Michigan Hospital, Department of Psychiatry.

Do you find that worries about the past or the future are taking you away from living your life? Emotional pain and negative thoughts take over and become overwhelming? Are your relationships unsatisfying? Do you often worry most about pleasing others? I truly believe that within every individual is the potential to live a happy, full life and be present in each moment. Every person can move through obstacles to make meaningful changes. But moving through can be a difficult and uncomfortable process. Psychotherapy is a tool that can help along your journey. My therapeutic approach with adults is unique to each individual. My role is to help redirect your energy toward managing the things you can control. I emphasize developing an ability to be present "in the moment." I utilize both Western and Eastern philosophies, interweaving mindfulness and meditation techniques with somatic, psychodynamic and relational modalities. I hope to cultivate a warm, honest and authentic relationship with all my valued clients. I truly believe in the dignity of every human being, and I am humbled that through this work I may be of service.

I provide a safe place for clients to explore and process issues. My approach is very collaborative. I integrate evidence-based treatment interventions to help you reach your goals. I am fully licensed in both California and Michigan and offer telehealth video and phone psychotherapy services to clients in both states.

If you are like me, you would love to know what people who have had exceptional outcomes in therapy have looked for in their psychotherapist that helped them choose who to trust to coach them to a new destination in their life. Surprisingly enough, successful people find coaches that identify and build on what they are already doing right. My PhD research on coping revealed that people are more resilient when they are authentic. Yet, all of us face social and even internal pressures to present to others what we believe they expect of us. At critical moments, we often forget to remember to listen to that part of us that already knows the direction we should be going. As your therapist and counselor, my job is to point out to you what you may unconsciously already know and help you consistently choose what you have been doing right over what you have been persuaded to do that does not work for you. This is what you can expect of me: Confidence: You already have the inner resources you need to do what you want to do. Acceptance: The only place you can start is where you are now. Practical Magic: Your forward action is what brings your dream to life. Depth: You are always more than you seem to be. Encouragement: Working together, you will become prepared for the inevitable tests of life. Understanding: As you are effective in changing yourself, your outer circumstances will shift. Creativity: When you change one thing for the better, everything else improves. Efficiency: You can be most effective when you start with something that is easy to change. Courage: Hard things come easier when you have succeeded at something simple. Insight: Everything starts with a good idea. Good Will: I deeply respect my clients! I get excited about what I do!

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.

Are you exhausted from holding it all together at work, in your family, or in your partnership only to feel frustrated that the same patterns keep resurfacing? You’re capable, thoughtful, and driven yet something isn’t shifting. You're finding that talking about it and reading about it has not brought the results you hoped for. Evidence-based, more experiential therapy can help you understand what’s underneath those patterns so real change becomes possible. As you gain clarity about the parts of you that work so hard to protect, please, or perform, you’ll feel less internally conflicted and more grounded in your relationships. I offer a steady, nonjudgmental space where you can slow down and speak honestly about what you’re carrying. Rather than adding more tools or techniques, we focus on what’s happening inside. Using Internal Family Systems (IFS) we’ll gently explore the different parts of you that have been trying to help, even the self-critical ones. You have so many parts inside that are longing to be known. Together, we can uncover the self-compassion and confidence that’s already within you, and ease the internal conflicts that haven't found relief with traditional talk therapy. If you’re ready for meaningful, lasting change, I invite you to reach out.

I believe that our earliest experiences lay the foundation for our sense of ourselves in relation to others. In my specialty of working with new mothers and their infants, I address the impact of a mother's own attachment experiences on her ideas about herself and motherhood. Dyadic work with mother and infant is valuable especially as I work with mothers with postpartum mood illnesses to enhance attachment security.