About Matthew
Matthew Esselstrom is a California licensed marriage and family therapist with 22 years of professional experience. Matthew focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, relationship worries, anger, self-esteem, motivation, and life transitions. He approaches each person with respect, sensitivity, and compassion.
Matthew shapes conversations and plans to fit the person in front of him. He listens for what matters most and adjusts pace and tools to match real-life needs. Sessions aim to build practical skills that can be used between meetings.
Background and approach
People come to him for a wide range of concerns including grief, trauma, sleep and eating struggles, addiction, career stress, and issues related to intimacy. He also supports those navigating ADHD, bipolar or depressive symptoms, and caregiver strain. The goal is clearer thinking and better coping, not quick fixes.
His style is straightforward and collaborative. Matthew helps clients name patterns, practice new responses, and set achievable steps. He frames change as a series of small efforts rather than an all-or-nothing leap.
Matthew works with clients to create a plan that fits their life and goals. Whether someone needs short-term coaching or ongoing therapy, he tailors the approach and checks in regularly to make sure it remains useful.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Matthew uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical skills and clearer thinking. One common approach emphasizes identifying unhelpful thought patterns and testing them against real-life evidence to reduce anxiety and improve mood. This method helps people notice automatic worries and try new, calmer responses.Another approach centers on building coping skills and behavior changes through small, repeatable steps. It targets problems like sleep disruption, addiction, anger, and daily stress by creating simple routines and practice tasks between sessions. These steps aim to make change feel doable rather than overwhelming.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Matthew works with each person to decide which methods match their needs, goals, and preferences. He checks in and adapts the plan as progress and circumstances change.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when a longer session is helpful. Phone sessions can fit a break at work or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging work for short check-ins, quick coaching, or ongoing support between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and keep momentum between meetings.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 22 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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