Individual Therapy
Individual Therapy in Newport Beach
Why is Therapy Important?
You did it. You made it here—to this page. That’s a big deal. So many people wrestle with the idea of finding a psychologist and reaching out for help. They search, delete the search tab, search again, call but hang up—sometimes over and over, for years. Asking for professional support is an act of vulnerability, and society’s stigma only makes it harder.
Contrary to the old American myth of “pride in strength,” asking for help is not a sign of weakness—it’s an act of courage. But what is strength, really? It’s the ability to face what feels like an obstacle, to push through discomfort rather than hide from it. Staying stuck and hiding the pain might feel easier, but it doesn’t make the problem go away. That’s the easy way out. Reaching out, on the other hand, takes real strength. It means breaking your silence, moving past pride and denial, facing fears of shame, and stepping into the care of someone who can support you. Congratulations—you’ve taken a brave and powerful step. Welcome to a new and improved version of strength.
What brings people to therapy is rarely just a single problem. Though often described as discrete issues—anxiety, loneliness, depression, anger—they are deeply woven into the fabric of a person’s life. These challenges are inseparable from your characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, coping, defending, and relating to others—in other words, your personality. Understanding and unpacking these patterns, where they come from and how they operate today, is critical to creating lasting change. Only through this process can you gain control over these patterns and become less vulnerable to the suffering they produce.
Our patterns shape our emotions, and our emotions form the core of who we are. Understanding them improves the quality of our lives. While we incorporate a variety of approaches, our focus tends to be on the here and now. This means we pay close attention not just to what’s happening in your life between sessions, but also what unfolds between you and your therapist during sessions. Your past will naturally arise so we can uncover hidden motives, feelings, and patterns outside your awareness—but we don’t believe that spending years talking only about your family is the most effective path forward. After facing what was, we turn to what is.
As primarily psychodynamic clinicians, we understand personality as the ways we learn to regulate our emotional lives. This is the foundation of describing someone’s “personality.” Our emotional life forms early, shaped by the ways we interact with our feelings and experiences. In our families, we learn which emotions are safe, validated, or feared. As children, our job is to stay connected to caregivers, and we manage our emotions to maintain that connection. Through this process, an implicit emotional template forms—some parts of us grow, others are cut off. Understanding your story, and learning in the context of a trusting therapeutic relationship how to fully experience and regulate your emotions while staying connected to another person, is a central healing element of psychotherapy.
Our approach is creative and practical, helping you experientially understand what drives and restricts you, and identify more useful ways of being—in the here and now. The goal isn’t to get lost in analysis, but to quiet the “noise” that distracts you, so you can focus your energy on what’s meaningful, productive, and fulfilling.
When to Consider Therapy
The secret most experienced clinicians quietly agree on is that targeting symptoms alone is often unproductive. The real “magic” happens when you uncover the underlying personality patterns that give rise to those symptoms. This isn’t just clinical wisdom—it’s supported by science. A specific cluster of personality factors frequently drives psychiatric symptoms. Common clinically significant personality concerns include:
Difficulties with intimacy, relatedness, or commitment in close relationships
Challenges expressing anger or assertiveness
Fears of separation, abandonment, or rejection
Low self-esteem
Problems with authority figures
Shyness or difficulty forming friendships
Perfectionism or harsh self-criticism
What to Expect
First and foremost, you can expect to be truly heard and understood on a deep level. The beginning of therapy is dedicated to developing meaningful, accurate, and insightful understandings of the issues you are currently facing. Often, these challenges are more complicated and layered than they initially appear. This process takes time because we are deeply attached to—and comforted by—the familiar. Even when the familiar isn’t perfect, it can feel safer than the uncertainty of something new.
We establish patterns for managing difficulties early in life, often shaped by a combination of our unique inborn traits and early experiences. These coping habits don’t simply disappear once the immediate challenge passes. Instead, we often find ourselves drawn to familiar people, places, and situations that allow us to replay these well-worn patterns—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. The familiar feels safe, and even familiar suffering can feel more bearable than the insecurity of venturing into the unknown.
In therapy, it takes time to warm up, build trust, and feel safe enough to begin the process of gently peeling back the layers of pain—whether that’s anxiety, depression, anger, or something else. Patience is essential in the early stages.
Many people who have completed meaningful therapy reflect back with gratitude, saying things like, “I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today without that time in therapy.” That could be your story too.
Finding a Good Therapist
Research consistently shows that the single most important factor in effective therapy is the quality of the relationship you build with your therapist—that felt sense of “they get me.” It’s crucial to find a therapist who can connect with you authentically, someone who feels real and present. This connection matters more than any specific technique, training, or diagnosis. When this foundation of trust and safety is present, the therapeutic process unfolds more naturally and effortlessly.
As active and engaged therapists, our goal is to help you see your life more clearly and to join you in exploring the rich complexities that make you who you are. We want you to leave therapy with a deeper honesty toward yourself. By understanding and owning your personal history, you can free yourself from the automatic, traumatic patterns of the past and avoid repeating painful cycles.
Therapy rarely changes your basic personality—but it allows it to come into fuller expression. Small but meaningful shifts can transform your life without requiring you to become a completely different person. Healing, regardless of diagnosis, centers on finding and trusting your inner voice and learning to follow it in constructive ways. At the same time, psychotherapy isn’t always about change; sometimes it’s about acceptance—embracing what cannot be changed. This process of understanding, acceptance, and grief is a vital part of healing for many.
Throughout therapy, you’ll also learn new tools and skills—developing language to describe your inner world, setting healthier boundaries in relationships, trusting your intuition, and communicating more effectively with those who matter most. Many difficulties arise from denying our own perceptions, needs, and feelings. Therapy helps you reclaim your ability to say what you feel—and feel what you say. People often leave feeling more grounded, insightful, and better equipped to navigate life’s challenges.
A key milestone in successful therapy is developing what some call a “third eye,” or “observing ego”—the ability to step back and notice your own habits, patterns, and ways of relating to yourself and others. Ultimately, this reflective capacity allows you to embrace the full risk of being yourself and find greater joy in love, work, and play.
Our Approaches to Therapy
- Psychodynamic
- Humanistic
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT)
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Read more anxiety therapy on our blog at Anxiety Disorders: What you need to know
