Why did you become a therapist, and what motivates you to continue?

I became a clinician because I’ve always held a deep desire to help others live fulfilling lives, no matter the obstacles they face. Early in my career, I worked in child welfare, where I witnessed both the profound trauma children endured and the challenges parents faced in showing up for their families. Those experiences opened my eyes to the importance of healing, compassion, and support—not just for individuals, but for entire systems and communities. What continues to motivate me is seeing the resilience in people and being a part of their journey toward hope, growth, and restoration. Each time a client takes a step toward healing, it reaffirms why I chose this path and inspires me to keep showing up with empathy and dedication.

Hi, I’m LaTranette Long, LMHC-QS, LPC. I’m passionate about creating a safe, supportive space where you can explore challenges, build resilience, and move toward lasting growth. My approach is collaborative and compassionate, blending evidence-based practices like CBT, ACT, and interpersonal psychotherapy with a focus on your unique strengths. Whether you’re navigating stress, anxiety, life transitions, or deeper emotional wounds, I’m here to walk alongside you with empathy and guidance.

I became a therapist because of my own experience with anxiety and how overwhelming it once felt. Through my healing, I learned how powerful support and the right tools can be, which inspired me to help others. What keeps me motivated is seeing my clients grow, build confidence, and realize they’re not alone in what they’re going through.  

Welcome! I’m Alexandrea Maratea, a compassionate therapist here to help you feel more confident, connected, and at peace in your life. I work with individuals facing anxiety, self-esteem challenges, relationship and family stress, and workplace pressures.  My approach is warm, personalized, and grounded in understanding your unique experiences. Together, we’ll uncover what’s been holding you back and develop practical tools to help you move forward with clarity, confidence, and a stronger sense of self.  You deserve support and real change—you don’t have to navigate this alone. Let’s take that next step together.  

I became a therapist when I realized my passion for sitting with others in their discomfort. Growing up, I always felt compelled to go beyond the "how are you?" to the deeper places, the ones people usually shied away from. I value meeting fellow humans in these moments because not everyone wants to. I am continually motivated to being a therapist because each human I work with is unique and valuable and being a therapist that helps them discover or rediscover that for themselves in their life is satisfying to my life's work.

Hi there! My name is Colleen and I specialize in working with LGBTQ+ individuals and those who are pregnant and postpartum, ages 18 and up, experiencing depression, anxiety, grief, life transitions, and more. It is my privilege and goal to guide self-exploration with compassion and curiosity to support those who I work with to build a foundation of self-love and loving relationships in their lives.

I had a very turbulent childhood and dealt with anxiety and depression as an adolescent. Having people invest in me, believe in me and see past the behaviors really helped me get better and heal. I hope to be a support for others going through hard seasons...

Hello, my name is Jessica and I am a marriage and family therapist in California. I specialize in offering trauma-informed care. I am bilingual in Spanish. I work with children, teenagers and adults. My approach is client-centered and integrates CBT and DBT interventions that will help clients to challenge negative thinking patterns and identify healthy coping skills that are sustainable for them.

My path to becoming a therapist wasn't just a career choice; it was rooted in the values I grew up with. I was taught a simple but powerful lesson early on: If you have the ability to help someone, you do it. Whether it was a smile, a hug, a piece of hard-won advice, or a shared resource, I learned that we are at our best when we are supporting one another. This "if you have it, share it" mindset is the heartbeat of my practice. I show up for my clients because I believe that no one should have to navigate their heaviest chapters alone when help is available. The Therapist as a "Detective" Beyond my drive to help, I have a lifelong fascination with how people work. I often see our sessions as a collaborative "detective" process. Every person is a complex, beautiful mystery. When we work together, I’m not just listening—I’m looking for the missing pieces of the puzzle: The Clues: We look at your habits, your physical sensations, and your recurring thoughts. The Connections: We investigate how a childhood experience might be "fingerprinting" your current relationships. The Breakthrough: There is nothing more rewarding than that "Aha!" moment when a client finally understands why they do what they do. Bridging Compassion and Curiosity It is incredibly rewarding to help someone become an expert on themselves. My role is to provide the resources I was taught to share, while using that "detective" lens to help you uncover your own strength. I don't just want to help you feel better; I want to help you understand the "how" and "why" of your life so you can take the lead in writing what happens next. When you truly know yourself, you are no longer a mystery to be solved—you are an author ready to create.

I believe your life is a book, and while the early chapters may be heavy, they do not define your whole story. You have the power to write what happens next. My Approach I view your life as a narrative shaped by everything you’ve carried—trauma, grief, and joy alike. While what you’ve been through matters deeply, it is not your identity. I offer a compassionate, down-to-earth approach to help you navigate your most difficult moments. In our work together, therapy becomes a safe space to explore how your past shows up in your present, especially within your relationships. By blending evidence-based tools with real talk, we’ll dive into the connection between your mind, body, and emotions to understand exactly where you feel stuck. My goal is to help you move from a place of surviving your history to intentionally authoring your future. How We’ll Work Together Healing is a journey of self-discovery—uncovering who you are and what you truly need. I hold our time together as sacred, providing a space for you to share both the positives and the negatives. Together, we will: Process Past Wounds: Ensure old traumas no longer dictate your future. Identify Patterns: Pinpoint the unhelpful cycles holding you back from genuine connection. Build Your Toolkit: Develop the skills to communicate needs and set healthy boundaries. Live Intentionally: Gain the courage to take deliberate steps toward a life of wholeness. My Commitment to You I provide compassionate and honest therapy for adults who want to change habits and perspectives that have been holding them back. I am here to empower you to truly know yourself, identify your needs, and gain the tools to express them. Your story is still being written. Let's make the next chapter your best one yet.

I became a psychiatric NP (provider and counselor) because I came from a country with mental health stigma, where people with mental health disorder or issues were neglected and not treated well. I have also lived in stress and trauma after genocide in my former country; has seen people suffering mentally without any care provided to them. When I arrived in USA, I decided to go to school to become a nurse/provider to care and treat people with various mental illnesses and help them overcome that stigma.

Hello there, my name is Bernadette, I am a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner practicing in psychiatry over 16 years. I am here to serve and help you overcoming any mental health issue you may experience. I perform psychiatric evaluations, diagnose and along with psychoeducation/counseling I prescribed psychotropic medications.

I chose this work because I believe mental health is just as important as physical health, if not more. Physical problems can often be treated with straightforward medical solutions, but mental health reaches deeper. It affects how you see yourself, how you connect with others, and the quality of your entire life. Helping someone improve their mental health is not about masking symptoms so they can simply get by. It is about restoring quality of life. With Lumina Wellness, my mission is to do psychiatry differently. I want care to be both accessible and high quality, without forcing people to choose between the two. Every patient deserves time, compassion, and clear explanations so they can make informed decisions about their own care. What motivates me to continue is seeing people who have been dismissed or rushed finally feel heard, understood, and truly cared for. That’s the standard I hold myself to, and that’s what keeps me going.

Sean Kim, is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) who provides compassionate, evidence-based psychiatric care. As a PMHNP, he is licensed to diagnose mental health conditions, prescribe and manage medications, and provide ongoing treatment; with emphasis on whole-person, patient-centered care. He specializes in treating ADHD, depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. Currently, serving patients in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, and throughout Los Angeles County. For those outside the South Bay, He also offers secure tele-health appointments anywhere in California. His approach blends thorough psychiatric evaluation, thoughtful medication management, and integrative strategies to help you feel like yourself again, focused, balanced, and confident in your daily life. He created Lumina Wellness to transform psychiatric care by providing personalized, high-quality treatment that is both accessible and sustainable. He believes patients deserve more than rushed five-minute appointments; they deserve thoughtful, individualized care where their needs are heard and respected. By accepting insurance without compromising quality, we are changing the way medication management is done, making comprehensive mental health care available to everyone while maintaining the highest standards of compassion and clinical excellence.

I became a therapist because I have always believed in the power of listening and supporting others through life’s challenges. I wanted to create a safe space where people feel heard, understood, and empowered to make meaningful changes. What motivates me to continue is witnessing the resilience of my clients—the moment they discover new perspectives, regain balance, or find hope again is incredibly rewarding. Being part of someone’s journey toward healing and growth is a privilege that continues to inspire my work every day

I am a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience working with adult population with issues of decreased motivation and anxiety. It is my thinking that everyone should have someone to speak to about things on their minds, both good and not great, and I will provide a confidential and safe space for this. I use various types of therapeutic interventions while engaging my clients in conversation and helping them see how they can improve in their life choices and to feel better about themselves. As humans, we all make mistakes and in making these mistake, we learn to improve ourselves. I work with Cognitive Behavioral therapeutic techniques as the way we think about things affects how we feel, which in turn affects our behaviors. I urge for self care and help my clients with feelings of low confidence. My focus is in the areas of depression and anxiety and I use a blend of evidence based techniques to make my clients feel happier with their lives and their choices. I have experience with group work and with individual therapy and will help you find what works for you throughout our time together.

I sought out therapy as an adult due to my own experiences of trauma, mental illness, family stress, and its impact on my body. I found myself gravitating towards psychology, creative arts, philosophy, and systemic theory in college. My own experiences in therapy have impacted my work, as well as reading the work of Disability Justice activists.

Therapy for queer, trans, gender-expansive, disabled, neurodivergent, grieving, and caregiving folks and their loved ones.

I became a therapist because I care deeply about the ways we connect with ourselves and with each other. I’ve always been drawn to the messy, beautiful complexity of relationships and sexuality (how much they shape our sense of self, our joy, and our pain). Over time, I saw how often people carry shame, confusion, or silence around these parts of life, and I wanted to be someone who could hold space for those conversations without judgment. Sex therapy and couples work let me walk alongside people as they untangle what’s been holding them back and move toward something more free and fulfilling. What keeps me going is seeing people begin to feel more at home in themselves (more confident, more curious, more connected). It’s incredibly meaningful work, and I feel lucky to do it.

I specialize in helping individuals & couples develop and nurture skills related to communication, sex & intimacy. Although we are inundated with cultural messaging about sex and relationships, most of us were not given the tools that allow us to connect to our partners or granted the space to freely explore the depths of our sexual selves. You deserve to feel understood, valued, and unburdened by shame. You deserve fulfilling relationships and an authentic intimate life.