Licensed Professionals Here to Guide You
Background, Education and Training
Christine MacInnis, MSed, MA LMFT
Christine MacInnis, LMFT CA#46382 AZ#15504
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For over 25 years, I was been working with families as a school counselor in both New York and California. In 2001, I decided to return to school for my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University at Dominguez Hills. In 2016, I decided to finally opened my doors to my own private practice to serve the needs of teens and young adults here in the South Bay.
Having always been drawn to support and as a member of the LGBTQ community, I decided to get further training and obtained certification from the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists in Affirmative LGBTQ+ Therapy. Seeing the amount of trauma facing my community from our society, in 2020, I received basic training in EMDR from EMDR Consulting, Inc and in December of 2021, I completed my full certification of EMDR under the supervision of Cathy Handville, LCSW.
Crista Gonzalez, MA, LEP
Crista Gonzalez, LEP CA#3469
For over 20 years, my therapeutic approach centers around allowing children and adolescents the ability to express themselves in a nurturing environment where they feel heard. When there is trust and respect, children and adolescents feel comfortable expressing themselves in a way that they can overcome or manage their feelings and emotions. My main goal, as a therapist, is to reduce feelings of anxiety, depression, frustration, low self-concept/self-esteem, and feelings of low self-worth. Children and adolescents can oftentimes feel lost, confused, and overwhelmed which leads to high anxiety and depressive symptoms. As a therapist, I acknowledge and guide them through life’s stressors to enable children and adolescents the ability to cope with the challenges in their lives.
Leah Richter, LSCW
Leah Richter, LCSW CA#1
Do you feel like your life is a video game stuck in “difficult” mode and you don’t know where the settings menu is? Therapy can help you do a hard reset to get your life going where it needs to be. Especially if you are suffering from trauma, traditional talk therapy may not be enough to get you unstuck. I have specific tools that can help.
As a military spouse and the first person to be provisionally licensed as a military spouse as a Clinical Social Worker under the California program to allow our work to be more portable as we move around the country, I have extensive experience and a passion for working with military personnel and veterans. In addition, my work is inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse communities. As a person with ADHD herself, I find myself drawn to working with folks who are neurodivergent themselves and I provide my care in a neurodivergent affirming way.
I have viewed firsthand how trauma work is life-changing, and how somatic healing is possible. I want to help you develop and maintain peace in your life through the use of trauma-focused therapy interventions including ND Affirming Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) as a certified practitioner.