About Annabel
Annabel Thomson is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 11 years of clinical experience in California. She focuses on helping people who are struggling with stress, anxiety, trauma, abuse, depression, and compassion fatigue. Annabel emphasizes practical steps people can use right away, and she meets clients with calm, steady support.
Her approach centers on listening first and then building on each person’s strengths. She helps people talk through family conflict, attachment and abandonment worries, and the strain that caregiving can bring.
Background and approach
She also works with issues like codependency, communication problems, guilt and shame, and feelings of emptiness. Annabel has supported people coping with chronic pain, illness, and disability, as well as those facing immigration stress or questions about gender identity. She uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques and focuses on clear goals and manageable steps.
Sessions are worked at a pace the client can handle. She encourages a collaborative relationship where the client helps guide the work. Annabel aims to create practical tools for everyday life, whether that means stress-management skills, boundary setting, or ways to repair difficult family patterns.
To begin, she asks people to complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule sessions according to availability. Therapy uses a subscription model that can be canceled at any time, and sessions are offered in English in California.
Approaches that guide online care
Annabel draws on evidence-based therapeutic techniques to address anxiety, trauma, and relationship strain. One common approach focuses on building practical coping skills for stress and anxiety - teaching breathing, grounding, and behavioral changes to reduce overwhelming feelings and regain control. Another approach centers on attachment and family patterns - looking at how past relationships shape current interactions and helping people try new ways of relating that feel safer and more effective.Deciding which approach to use is a shared process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and daily life, and then recommend strategies to try together. Sessions are collaborative and adjusted over time if something isn’t working.
Online therapy is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video lets people work face-to-face from wherever they are, phone calls require less bandwidth and can fit into a work break, and chat or messaging is useful for quick check-ins or ongoing support between sessions. These options help people fit therapy into busy schedules and varied circumstances.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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