About Leonard
Leonard Burns is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California with 35 years of clinical experience. He helps people facing stress, anxiety, relationship strain, grief, trauma, and issues around intimacy and identity. His manner is direct and steady, aimed at making therapy understandable and useful for everyday life.
He draws on several therapeutic approaches to tailor work to each person. Sessions focus on practical skills for coping, clearer communication, and steps that can reduce overwhelm.
Background and approach
He also pays attention to how early attachments and life stories shape current patterns. Leonard has long experience supporting people through complex trauma, depression, addiction, caregiving strain, chronic illness, and cancer survivorship. He also works with concerns such as sleep disruption, anger, low self-esteem, and life transitions.
He recognizes how nontraditional identity and relationship styles can add pressure in unsupportive environments. In session he prioritizes an honest, collaborative relationship. He aims to build trust first and then introduce interventions people can use between meetings.
Work may include looking at thoughts and behaviors, strengthening values and direction, and addressing the emotional impact of past wounds. His background includes family systems thinking, psychodynamic perspectives, and EMDR approaches. Leonard meets people where they are and focuses on steady progress, not quick fixes.
If someone is ready to commit to change, he offers steady support through the process.
How Leonard’s Approaches Work Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying personal values and taking small, meaningful steps toward them while accepting uncomfortable feelings. It can help with anxiety, low mood, and major life changes by shifting attention to what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches concrete skills to reduce worry and improve sleep and mood. Attachment-Based Therapy examines early relationships and how they shape current patterns, which can help with intimacy, communication, and relationship stress.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Leonard will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and current challenges and then try methods that fit those needs. He adjusts the plan over time and invites feedback so the work stays practical and grounded in what the person wants to change.
Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions work well for deeper emotional work and face-to-face conversation. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and messaging are useful for quick reflections, mood tracking, or breathing space between sessions. These formats aim to make consistent therapy more manageable around work, caregiving, or health needs.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Visually impaired
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Existential Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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