Therapists in Salinas, CA

Bernadette Gurney is a Spanish-bilingual Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who received her Bachelor's in Clinical Psychology from Mount. St. Mary’s University, and her Masters in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Family Therapy at Pepperdine University. Bernadette has worked with unaccompanied minors in shelters, families in the DCFS system, and children, adolescents, and families who have experienced deep and painful trauma in their lives. Bernadette has a great deal of experience, focusing on trauma, depression, anxiety, and mindfulness.

Does the world seem chaotic and to not make sense? Does it seem like you should be able to do more, but just can’t? Does it seem like there are rules to life everyone else knows? Does it seem like when things go wrong, it’s your fault, but you don’t know why? Are you exhausted from ‘playing the role' of yourself in your life, trying to ‘do it right'? All families want peace, all individuals want greater ease and understanding in their lives. With over 25 years of providing services to exceptional individuals, I know the importance of having the right support for the need at hand.

My name is Jorge J. Alvarez and I am a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist and Licensed Educational Psychologist. I enjoy working with a wide range of people who are interested in improving their lives through in-depth exploration of emotions and behaviors which impact personal, social, occupational, and family relationships. As a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, I enjoy working with individuals suffering from trauma, anxiety, and depression. I also enjoy helping individuals meet goals through increased focus, motivation, and empowerment.

Hello, my name is Cynthia Aiken, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with over 10 years of experience working with adolescents, adults, and families from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. My goal in therapy is to provide a safe space for you to work towards actualizing your best self. Together, you will learn to use your existing strengths and identify those you may not know exist within you to achieve your goals. I am bilingual/bicultural and fluent in Spanish.

Change is a given part of life. One's response to change can mean the difference of having a good day or a bad one, a fulfilling life or feeling stuck in a situation. One's response to change depends on one's thoughts and feelings about the change. Changing one's thoughts about a situation can be challenging. It occurs little by little. It takes a lot patience and practice to make changes. My clients may have depression, anxiety, attention problems, other behavioral or emotional problems or traumatic experiences to change.

All of us have those moments in life where we finally "get" something, those times when everything finally makes sense. As a therapist it is a pivotal moment in the therapeutic process, as a parent it can be very rewarding to see this occur for your child, and as an individual, it can be the difference between getting stuck in a bad place and moving forward in your life. I work with individuals, children and couples who are facing life's stressors and are looking for the tools to improve the quality of their lives.

Hello, my name is James and thank you for taking the time to learn about me. I’m a California-based Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 12 years of experience providing psychotherapy to children, adolescents, young adults, and families, to help them feel empowered, engaged, and most of all, accepted in this world. I am a neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed therapist with an extensive clinical background in treating trauma with a strong emphasis on the connection between one’s environment, brain, and nervous system. I gravitate towards an eclectic therapeutic approach and tailor my sessions to each individual’s need.

I provide therapy for individuals, children, families, young adults, couples and groups. I have a special interest in working with children with emotional and behavioral challenges, & neurodevelopmental delays utilizing a child-family centered approach. I also provide school based consultation. I also enjoy working with adults who are committed to making positive changes in their lives.

Marriage and relationships are challenging and it is even harder to ask for what you want. Often people believe they are broken or their desires are shameful and I work to create change and facilitate communication. As a licensed psychotherapist, specializing in sex therapy, I work to help individuals, partners, and couples to connect. It is my passion to heal shame, have the hard talks, and facilitate communication. Personally, I know the challenges of maintaining the passion in a long term relationship and I don't believe it is normal to give up on intimacy.