LICENSED PROFESSIONAL CLINICAL COUNSELOR
Hi, I'm Olivia :)
Therapist Olivia is...
Human First
I'm a real person who believes therapy works best when we can show up as ourselves.
No perfect people required, including me.
A Professional Overthinker
{in a good way}
I believe there is always more to learn and more than one way to understand something. I'll bring my knowledge, observations and questions. You'll bring your experiences and perspectives. We'll figure out the rest together.
A Plant Person, Obviously
I'm a firm believer that growth takes the right environment, patience, care, and sometimes a little pruning!
A Believer in Your Autonomy
You are the expert of your own life. My role isn't to tell you who to be or what decisions to make, but to help you explore what feels meaningful and right for you.
In It With You
Therapy isn't something that happens to you. It's something we create together. Some days that means sitting with the hard stuff; other days it means finding a new way forward. Either way, you won't be doing it alone.
A Gentle Challenger
Support and accountability can coexist. I will celebrate your progress, but I will also lovingly point our when something might be keeping you stuck.
Conflict is not the absence of peace.
Comfortable with the Uncomfortable
We can talk about the hard, awkward, complicated, and sometimes downright weird parts of being human. You do not have to make your experiences more palatable for me.
Therapist. Plant collector. Competitive board gamer.
ABOUT OLIVIA
I'm a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with a distinctly MFT-shaped heart. Outside of the therapy room, I'm usually tending to my ever-growing plant collection, getting far too invested in a good show, or happily staying home with my dogs.
I have a soft spot for animals of every kind, although cows receive a somewhat disproportionate amount of my attention. I enjoy spending time with the people I love, and board games have a way of bringing out my competitive side. "It's just a game" may be technically true, but that doesn't mean I don't intend to win.
My life has a way of filling itself. And I enjoy that fullness. But I've also learned how easy it is to move so quickly through life that we don't notice what's happening within us while we're living it.
Becoming a therapist has taught me the value of slowing down. That hasn't meant making my life smaller or giving up the things that make it full. It has meant becoming present enough to notice what all that momentum can cover up.
Sometimes we keep moving because life is busy. Sometimes staying busy is also one of the ways we avoid what becomes louder when everything gets quiet.
The more I've learned about myself and the people around me, the more I've come to appreciate just how much of our lives are shaped by relationships. The people we've loved, the connections we've lost, the roles we've taken on, and the experiences we've shared all leave their impressions on us.
I don't think we become who we are in isolation. And I don't think we have to figure out who we're becoming that way, either.
​
Whether we're exploring the relationship you have with yourself, the patterns that keep showing up with a partner, or the roles everyone has learned to carry within a family, I believe there's value in understanding how we got here before deciding where we want to go.
Not because we need to have everything figured out. But because sometimes understanding ourselves a little differently makes it possible to respond to life a little differently, too.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University, Bakersfield, and my Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
​
My clinical training includes:
-
Restoration Therapy Level 1 Training
-
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Institute Level 1 Training
-
Attachment-focused and trauma-informed psychotherapy
As a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, I approach our work through a relational and systemic lens. That means considering your relationships, family, community, and the experiences that shaped how you connect and protect yourself.
Together, we can understand familiar patterns and create more room to choose how you respond.
-
When the familiar no longer fits.
Change can be something we welcome, something we're considering, or something life hands us without asking. Whether you're stepping into something new or finding your footing after the unexpected, transitions can challenge the roles, expectations, and beliefs that have shaped how you see yourself. Together, we can explore what these changes bring up, what you're carrying forward, and what you may be ready to leave behind as you find your way through.
When slowing down
feels unfamiliar.
There's always something that needs doing, someone who needs something, or another responsibility waiting for your attention. And sometimes, being the person who keeps everything moving means losing track of yourself along the way. We can explore what keeps you going, what happens when you finally stop, and how to make room for your own needs without giving up the things that make your life meaningful.
Finding a therapist is a little strange.
You're essentially deciding whether to share some of the most personal parts of your life with someone you've never met.
I don't take that lightly.
You may know exactly what you're hoping to work through, or you may still be trying to find the words for it. Either way, I believe the relationship we build matters just as much as where we begin.
If something here resonates with you, I'd love the opportunity to connect, get to know you, and see what we might discover together.