My commitment to you is that you gain insight and empowerment toward achieving your personal, relationship, and professional goals.

Whether it’s your first time seeking therapy, or you are returning, the experience can be a big step toward resolving your concerns. Throughout the course of our lives, we are presented with challenges. Psychotherapy can be helpful in both meeting those challenges, and developing the understanding and skills to cope successfully in the future.

With the guidance and support of a trained professional, psychotherapy can offer effective tools to help address and ultimately resolve your concerns. As your therapist, my interest lies in listening to you and coming to a clear and accurate understanding of your concerns. Embarking on a collaborative journey together, I look forward to helping you identify and express your thoughts and feelings, clarify needs and goals, determine new and effective strategies, and support and encourage your decisions.

My approach to psychotherapy builds on ideas, concepts, and the practice of psychodynamic, relational and humanistic theories as well as family systems. Drawing from this blend of practice techniques allows for greater opportunity to create a holistic view of each person, and guides understanding of each individual’s, couple’s and family’s quest for greater emotional health and overall well-being.

The psychodynamic approach assumes underlying unconscious forces that influence current behaviors. The knowledge of clients’ past developmental histories is essential to discover the unconscious roots of present behavior. Once identified, clients are better positioned to change behavior. Within psychodynamic psychotherapy, my emphasis is on object relations and attachment theories.

Object Relations theory recognizes how early life experiences and relationships become imprinted and shaped into a belief system, thus influencing future relationships. By understanding and identifying these recurring and potentially limiting patterns, clients move beyond past history to achieve greater success in relationships.

Attachment theory suggests that early bonds between a child and their parents shape future attachment styles and relationships. Each child’s unique needs require a particular response or attunement by the parent or caretaker. The more accurately a child’s needs are met, the stronger his/her connection, trust, and secure attachment. The goal is not perfect parenting, but parenting to build connections so that children have optimal chances for fulfilling and balanced relationships.

Relational psychotherapy focuses on the social nature of human development. We seek connection, intimacy and to know others and ourselves. Our sense of self, as well as our emotional and physical health, requires connection to other people. As a relational system, the therapeutic relationship between therapist and client is a social microcosm and becomes a vehicle for working through and improving each client’s relationships and interactions.

Humanistic. As humans, we have an innate need to grow, evolve, and enhance aspects of ourselves. The humanistic approach is client-centered and views each person as the expert on his or her own life. It is based on the belief of our ability to self-actualize. The role of the therapist through this approach is to assist you as client to more fully trust and believe in yourself while reaching your own objectives.

Family Systems. The family systems approach is based on the idea that a family is a unit and functions according to it’s structure and dynamics. Such dynamics may include the way members communicate, resolve conflict, and relate to one another, as well as their roles and boundaries. Dysfunction within families is viewed as a family issue as opposed to resting within one individual member. Change is incited by shifting the dynamics within the family structure, as well as changing ways of interacting and behaving. A healthy family system is one in which different needs of family members, such as the need for closeness or independence, have the opportunity to be met.

  • RELATIONSHIP ISSUES

    Intimacy
    Communication Issues
    Trust and Commitment
    Roles/Expectations
    Break-ups and Loss
    Cross-Cultural issues
    Pre-Marital Counseling

  • FAMILY ISSUES

    Marital Discord
    Parent/Child Conflict
    Sibling Rivalry
    Parenting skills
    Separating
    Blended Families
    Fertility Issues

  • LIFE TRANSITIONS

    Identifying Passions & Goals
    Career Choices
    College/University Life
    Social Isolation
    Adjusting to Parenthood
    Divorce

What Clients are Saying

"Working with Simona is a thought provoking, safe, and rewarding experience. She has a wonderfully balanced style of listening, questioning, and voicing her own thoughts. I enjoy my time with her because she allows me to talk about anything that's particularly on my mind, but she also helps me to maintain focus and connect back to the original issues I came to her about. A session with Simona feels safe; she cultivates an environment that feels like it truly belongs to you alone, and she doesn't pass judgement on anything you choose to share. She works with you to create a dialogue and develop a true partnership, one where you're exploring and discovering things together. Simona also encourages you to think out loud and come to your own conclusions. I highly recommend working with her."

A.S.,female,age 28

“Simona is absolutely fantastic. She's patient and intuitive--knowing when to listen, and when to provide insight and ask thought provoking questions. Sessions with her feel safe, and she's been so helpful with issues concerning anxiety. I highly recommend her.”

Sarah, age 25

“I feel so strong and so delighted with the way Simona has helped me discover and uncover my feelings and my emotions when I am not able to do so by myself. Simona has helped me think of things in such a way which has had a profound and lasting effect on me. She has helped me to have much more pleasure from my experiences and in my relationships.”

M., Client

“As Clinical Director, I had the opportunity to supervise Simona on several challenging cases working with children from 3-8 years of age diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disroders, Asperger’s, ADHD, and a range of learning challenges. She performed these duties in various settings, including pre-school, elementary school, and in the client’s homes. Utilizing her behavioral as well as psychodynamic therapeutic skills, Simona assisted each child with his/her particular area of need, including socialization and play, focus and attention in the classroom, and a broad range of other behavioral goals. Simona was always extremely empathic toward her clients’ challenges while supportive and reinforcing of their strengths. Her empathic and caring nature was clearly conveyed by the strong bonds and relationships she developed with each child with whom she worked. It was clear that Simona was personally committed to each child’s growth and shared in their successes.”

Fae Rubenstein, LCSW, Clinical Director
FOCUS Psychological-Educational Services

“The two year's Simona worked with Kaitlin was wonderful. Kaitlin wasn't reading until Simona started working with her on a regular basis. Kaitlin has blossomed into a wonderful and positive young person due to Simona’s wonderful and positive attitude. I feel as a parent that Simona has been instrumental in the early stage's of Kaitlin's developmental progress.”

June and Kaitlin, Clients

“I had the opportunity to co-facilitate ongoing family therapy sessions with Simona and have gotten to know Simona as a wonderful therapist with a loving heart and a good clinical mind.”

Deborah Groening, MA LMFT
Director, Well Baby Center
Los Angeles, CA Colleague