About Sara
Sara Contreras is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) based in California with five years of clinical experience. She focuses on anxiety, stress, trauma, depression, and life transitions. She creates a calm, nonjudgmental space where people can speak openly about hard feelings and confusing situations.
Her approach centers on building trusting relationships and understanding how attachment and past experiences affect today's reactions. She uses client-centered methods to follow each person's pace and priorities.
Background and approach
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tools are offered to help spot unhelpful thoughts and develop practical coping steps. Sara also uses eye movement desensitization and reprocessing to address disturbing memories when that fits a person's needs. She tailors interventions to each person's goals rather than following a single method.
Sessions are straightforward and focused on what will help most in daily life. People come for help with sleep problems, anger, relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting stress, career pressure, and identity issues related to LGBT experiences. She also supports those dealing with chronic illness, grief, body image, codependency, and attachment wounds.
Appointments are available by evening and some mornings by arrangement. Sara invites people to take the first step and will work together to find a pace and plan that feels manageable.
How these approaches translate to online therapy
Sara uses Attachment-Based Therapy to help people understand how early relationships shape current reactions and patterns. That work looks at connection and trust, and can help with anxiety, attachment wounds, and relationship struggles.She also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which helps identify unhelpful thoughts and test small behavior changes. CBT is practical for managing anxiety, sleep issues, and mood shifts by using short exercises and daily skills practice.
Choosing an approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful. Together they adjust methods over time so sessions stay relevant and useful.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions work well for deeper conversations and exercises that benefit from visual cues. Phone sessions can fit a busy day or require less bandwidth. Live chat and text messaging are good for brief check-ins, homework support, or when a shorter touchpoint is needed. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or family routines while keeping continuity across weeks.
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- 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
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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