About Steven
Steven Smith is a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in California. He helps people who are feeling stressed, anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed by life changes. He works with individuals and couples and draws on a decade of clinical experience to guide conversations and set realistic goals.
He uses a straightforward, client-centered style that starts with listening. Sessions focus on what matters to the person in front of him and on practical next steps.
Background and approach
He avoids a one-size-fits-all plan and instead tailors the pace and focus to each person’s needs. Steven also brings existential ideas into sessions, helping people find meaning and agency when life feels confusing or stuck. That approach pairs well with mindfulness tools he uses to calm intense feelings and increase present-moment awareness.
He applies motivational interviewing to support change when someone feels mixed about taking the next steps. Over his 10 years of practice he has worked with a range of concerns, including trauma and abuse, relationship and communication problems, addiction, bipolar disorder, grief, and issues related to gender and sexuality.
He is familiar with complex or overlapping challenges such as codependency, dissociation, and co-morbidity. In sessions a typical visit might include focused listening, reflective questions, skill practice, and collaboratively set homework. Steven emphasizes steady progress and practical strategies people can use between appointments.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Steven commonly combines client-centered work and mindfulness practices to help people manage anxiety, stress, and relationship strain. Client-centered Therapy focuses on listening and helping people set their own goals, which is useful for anyone who wants an approach driven by their priorities. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices that reduce reactivity and make strong emotions easier to handle.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. He will talk with each person about goals and preferences, try approaches that match those goals, and adjust methods over time based on what helps most. The aim is to co-create a plan that feels doable and relevant to real life concerns.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation for deeper dialogue. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a work break more easily. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief check-ins, ongoing encouragement, or when someone prefers not to be on camera. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and keep continuity when life is unpredictable.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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