ACT and acceptance
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy teaches you to accept anxious thoughts so you can focus on what matters most.
PSYCHOTHERAPY · ONLINE ACROSS CALIFORNIA
Online Psychotherapy in California for Positive Change
When something feels hard to understand or change, exploring the root cause of the pattern, with effective interventions, can lead to permanent pattern replacement and healthy changes.
Start where you are
Does this sound familiar?
You may understand that something is not working and still feel unsure where to begin. Psychotherapy gives you a place to look at the patterns, emotions, and relationships connected to what you want to change.
My relationships keep leaving me hurt, confused, or stuck.
I can help you slow the pattern down and look at what is happening between you and the people who matter.
I keep second-guessing myself and feeling like I am not enough.
I can make room for low self-esteem, shame, and feelings of inadequacy while you practice a steadier way of seeing yourself.
Anxiety or depression is shaping more of my days than I want it to.
I can help you name what feels heavy, notice the patterns around it, and consider a next step that feels workable.
Performance anxiety makes important moments feel like a judgment on my whole ability.
I can help you separate the moment in front of you from the story you are carrying into it.
I feel blocked in my career or stuck in a creative block.
I can help you explore what is getting in the way and what kind of movement would feel meaningful to you.
A fear or phobia keeps narrowing what feels possible.
I can take the fear seriously and understand the response without rushing your pace.
I want to stop a habit that no longer fits the life I want.
I can help you look at the pattern, what maintains it, and what healthier direction you want to practice.
How psychotherapy works
Understanding the roots of what is happening
Cognitive restructuring
Cognitive restructuring helps you spot and replace unhelpful thought patterns with language that is more balanced and workable.
Relationships and self
I can help you explore how early relationships shaped self-esteem, identity, expectations, and the ways you relate to yourself and others now.
A clearer picture of patterns, emotions, and relationships
Early relationships with caregivers can shape the inner pictures you carry of yourself and other people, what you expect from them, and how you respond when closeness or conflict feels uncertain. I can help you notice when old expectations are being repeated in a current relationship, including a marriage, and make room to distinguish past experiences from present-day reality.
During conflict, it can feel as if you or someone else is all good or all bad. I can help you slow that view down and practice holding both positive and difficult qualities in the same picture. That can make more room for disappointment, intimacy, ambivalence, and separateness without treating any one feeling as the whole story.
The therapeutic relationship can help you notice recurring expectations as they emerge. I can look with you at protective strategies such as putting a feeling onto another person, expecting them to carry it, idealizing someone, or devaluing them when conflict feels hard. I can also help you explore how early relationships shaped self-esteem, identity, and emotional stability, using empathy and healthy relationships to support a more cohesive sense of self.
The aim is not to force a single explanation. It is to develop healthier, more flexible ways of relating to yourself and others while keeping the work connected to the objective you bring to therapy.
Goals and growth
Goal Achievement with scientific-proven steps
A meaningful change can become easier to approach when I help you identify what you want to understand, shift, or grow, then break it into steps you can name and revisit.
Sometimes the blockers are low self-esteem, shame, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, or a relationship pattern that keeps returning. I can treat these as places to slow down and understand rather than labels to use against yourself.
My work can make room for both the roots of a pattern and the next choice in front of you. I will explain the approach, answer questions, and adjust the pace as you clarify what you want from therapy.
- Painful or dysfunctional relationships
- Low self-esteem
- Anxiety and depression
- Performance anxiety
- Shame and feelings of inadequacy
- Career or creative blocks
- Fears and phobias
- Habit cessation
Practical support
What psychotherapy can help with
Psychotherapy may be a place to explore concerns such as:
- Painful or dysfunctional relationships
- Low self-esteem
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Performance anxiety
- Shame and feelings of inadequacy
- Career blocks
- Creative blocks
- Fears and phobias
- Habit cessation
Two backpacks
Why a licensed psychotherapist matters
Psychotherapy gives you room to explore root causes, emotions, relationships, and patterns together. Focused tools can be considered when they fit the objective and the person in front of me.
I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I bring each focus area into a broader clinical conversation rather than presenting a one-size-fits-all answer. I can discuss the approach with you during a first consultation.
I offer online sessions for adults and couples located anywhere in California. A first consultation is a chance to ask questions, describe what you want to change, and decide whether my way of working feels like a useful fit.
Related reading
Topics to Consider
About the author
Lisa Lichtenstein, LMFT, CHT, NLP
I provide online psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and NLP for adults and couples located anywhere in California.
I am the author of two published books and completed six months of weekly TV segments on mental health during COVID.
Read about meQuestions and answers
Before you begin
Who is online psychotherapy for?
I work with adults and couples across California. A first conversation can help you describe what is happening and ask whether psychotherapy fits your objective.
What can I expect from psychotherapy?
I will ask about what brings you to therapy, what you want to understand or change, and what kind of support feels workable. I can explain the approaches that may fit your goal.
How can psychotherapy help with relationships?
Psychotherapy can help you notice how early relationships and past expectations may shape current patterns. I can help you look at conflict, closeness, separateness, and the ways you want to relate differently.
How do I begin online psychotherapy in California?
Use the consultation link to ask about current openings or learn more about working together online across California. You can start by sharing the concern you want to explore.
A clear place to begin
What happens in your free 20-minute consultation
Tell me what you want to change
We will discuss what you'd like to work on and accomplish in therapy
I see if I'm a fit and map your first steps
You'll get a change to ensure you feel comfortable with me.
You decide, no pressure
You can take the next step when it feels right to you.
Please don't share detailed health information here.
If you are in crisis, call 911 or call/text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). This form is not monitored for emergencies.
Request a free 20-minute consultation
A few short questions help Lisa prepare for your first conversation.