Psychotherapy

Therapy for children, teens, adults, couples, and families in California.

Many contemporary psychological theories were born out of colonialism and White supremacy and emphasize self-sufficiency as a marker of mental health. We see things differently.

Our work at Casa Alma Mental Health is grounded in a relational psychodynamic approach. That means we focus on helping individuals and couples create and maintain meaningful relationships, because satisfying relationships are central to emotional well-being.

We specialize in working with the following mental health concerns and populations:

Click the + to read more about each speciality. To learn more about our therapists’ personal specialities and to find a therapist who gets you, check out the Meet Your Therapist page.

  • Many survivors of sexual assault and harassment experience feelings of guilt, shame, self-doubt, sadness and anxiety. Psychotherapy enables survivors to understand, process, and cope with their feelings. At Casa Alma Mental Health we center your experience and tailor therapy to meet your needs and progress at your pace.

  • Everyone deserves to feel safe and empowered in their romantic relationships. Intimate partner violence (IPV) can have profound and lasting effects on you and your mental health.

    Abuse can be subtle at first, increasing in intensity over the course of months or even years. Insults and criticisms can eventually become internalized and contribute to conditions like anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder.

    Working with a Casa Alma Mental Health therapist can provide validation, build self-esteem, and ultimately the ability to trust yourself and others again.

  • Do you find yourself in the middle of the same chaotic relationship over and over again? Do you wonder why you keep choosing a partner or partners who are just not compatible? Do you find yourself constantly anxious, stressed, and worried about your relationship? Do you find yourself excited and smitten one minute and then completely disinterested the next?

    We learn relational patterns early in life in order to help keep ourselves safe. The relational patterns that once kept us safe, do not always continue to serve us as adults. It is imperative to identify, understand and resolve these deeply held patterns in order to have good relationships.

    At Casa Alma Mental Health, we work with individuals to help them understand their own relationship patterns in order to foster healthier relationships.

  • Finding a psychotherapist you share common ground with can help build trust quickly in the therapeutic relationship. We provide affirming and culturally responsive therapy for members of the LGBTQIAA+ community. We want you to feel welcome, affirmed, and supported.

    We can help with the following: coming out, romantic relationships, navigating systemic oppression, family relationships, gender identity exploration, gender affirmation and transition, queer family building, living with HIV/AIDS, addiction/substance use, queer kink/BDSM communities/practices, and ethical non-monogamy/polyamory within queer communities, among other topics.

  • Difficult experiences in childhood and adolescence can impact us for a lifetime. For survivors of childhood abuse or neglect, psychotherapy can be a way to understand your experience, learn healthy coping skills, heal, and strengthen your relationships. Casa Alma Mental Health provides trauma-informed therapy and support for survivors of childhood abuse or neglect.

    Here are some long-lasting effects of childhood abuse and neglect:

    • anxiety and depression

    • increased substance use

    • chronic pain

    • decreased physical health

    • decreased focus and concentration

    • anger and aggression

    • chaotic, unfulfilling, or unhealthy relationships

    • disconnection from others

  • Experiences of trauma can profoundly effect your psychological, social, physical, occupational, and financial functioning. You may avoid people, places, or things that remind you of the traumatic experience, your sense of safety may be disrupted, and it may be very difficult to trust others. Friends and family may tell you that your emotional reactions to the traumatic experience are unreasonable or unacceptable.

    Trauma therapy can help you address a traumatic event or events and process your feelings and emotions. Working with a therapist at Casa Alma Mental Health can give you the opportunity to face your fears in a safe space. You will also learn coping skills that can help you function on a day-to-day basis by establishing safety, identifying triggers, and developing healthy coping skills.

  • Depression is more than just sadness; it interferes with daily life. Depression may also be complicated by grief or loss. It may decrease motivation, interrupt sleep, and make us feel disconnected from others.

    We all have things to worry about, but when worry is relentless and goes on most of the day, you may be experiencing anxiety.

    Depression and anxiety are serious conditions. But the good news is that they are highly treatable. We work with patients to help them gain freedom from anxiety and depression.

  • BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and acknowledges the fact that not all people of color face the same level of injustice.

    You deserve to have a psychologist who gets you. As a BIPOC psychologist, Dr. Juliana Ybarra is passionate about supporting BIPOC patients in fostering resiliency in the face of racism, colonialism, and White Supremacy.