Psychodynamic Therapists in Newport Beach, CA

When you have tried to resolve issues on your own, and things just aren't changing, it is time to seek professional help. Perhaps your or your significant other's past and unresolved issues are what is creating the distress; an inability to trust, to feel joy and happiness, to pursue dreams. It is important to seek help early on so that things do not worsen. Whether you are seeking marriage counseling, individual therapy, or therapy for your teen, I can help you get on track to a healthier more fulfilling life.

I have been a Marriage and Family therapist for over 25 years. I enjoy working with and helping couples and individuals who are having difficulty finding joy and happiness in their lives. I believe strongly that we all are trying to build a healthier life, but sometimes need a little help understanding the things that get in our way. We get in a rut, repeating the same destructive behaviors and feel hopeless about ever getting what we really want and need. I can help you identify negative patterns, understand where they come from and change them into effective, self affirming strategies.

INTERRACIAL COUPLES…. Culturally diverse factors may exist but the underlining issues threatening your happiness are the same as any other relationship. Emotional detachment leaving you feeling isolated and disconnected when there has been a shift in focus to career, friends, children, hobbies or social activities. Your partner fails to express gratitude or appreciation for the contribution you make to the relationship leaving you agitated and bitter. Sensing a loss of sexual intimacy or struggling with physical affection. Toxic Masculinity or Femininity may have left you defenseless against verbal or physical abuse.

Currently Accepting New Clients > > > All too often, unfortunate life circumstances, difficult experiences and painful challenges lead to the belief of negative and untrue definitions of self. Do you struggle with negative self-talk? Poor self-image or poor body image? Do you feel at times that you are not deserving of good things? Perhaps you are struggling with motivation to follow through with goals you have set for yourself, and the stress just continues to pile up? If any of this sounds like you, you aren’t alone, and there is hope.

Do you feel alone, stuck, or exhausted from pretending to be someone you're not? Are you grieving the loss of a loved one or possibly the loss of a life you wish you lived? As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I am passionate about helping others gain insight, work through struggles, and grow as human beings. I believe authenticity, openness, and collaboration to be essential in creating a strong therapeutic relationship. In order to achieve this, I strive to provide a safe, nonjudgmental, and welcoming environment.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 14 years of clinical experience helping clients find a renewed sense of purpose, hope, and healing in their lives. My approach to therapy is down-to-earth, relational, and holistic. It is my deeply held belief that true growth and healing takes place when we honor all the aspects of who we are emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. I offer individual therapy with adults and teens and specialize in the areas of depression, anxiety, relational issues, trauma, and personal growth.

Hello, I'm Serena McCormick, LMFT, a psychotherapist deeply committed to guiding individuals, couples, adolescents, and teens toward transformative change. My specialization includes addiction counseling, couples therapy, and adult mental health, with a particular focus on providing support to those who have experienced trauma. My primary therapeutic modality is psychodynamic therapy, an empathetic approach that explores the unconscious to understand and resolve emotional conflicts.

One thing you will learn about me if we encounter one another is that I am a passionate advocate for practicing self-care, speaking to the self with honesty, and compassion. If you have an interest in therapy and don’t know where to start, have a fear that it’s not meant for you, or have a belief that “nothing will change,” please know that there is a place for you to freely express yourself, your fears, and even voice your hopes. Now, that place could be here with me, or it could be with another therapist, either way, just know that you are worth taking up the space.

I would love to work with you towards healing and growth in your relationships and everyday life. Whether from life events, circumstances, relational difficulties, or a negative voice from within of ourselves, we can sometimes find ourselves stressed, anxious, depressed, burnt out, or having trouble living the way we wish we could. I work from a psychodynamic approach, which will explore your current pain and challenges, while also aiming to bring insight to present and past experiences that are contributing to pain and struggles.

Has trauma, anxiety, or depression interfered with the potential to become the best version of yourself? We often feel defined by traumatic or emotionally difficult experiences that leave us feeling stuck in place rather than moving forward towards our goals. I’m here to provide a safe, affirming space for you to develop an understanding of yourself to overcome experiences or fears that define you. Our work together will be met with unconditional acceptance, creative approaches, and the utmost compassion.

I work with clients online video with telemedicine HIPPA compliant. I maintain a very successful practice of holistic psychology that addresses the client at all levels; Mental, Emotional, Physical & Spiritual, facilitating healing at the level of causation, not just management and treatment of symptoms. I sought out the most innovative treatments so my clients feel better as soon as possible and can be out-living their lives. I work very well with adolescents and individuals of all ages. I have extensive clinical experience that covers a wide range of problems.

The majority of difficulties we experience in our life probably have something to do with relationships. Either the relationship with ourselves, our family, our friends, our jobs, our environment, etc. We have a tendency, many times without knowing, to remake the type of relationships we experienced early in our lives. Therapy helps in shining some light into these type of patterns. We can play detective a bit. Figure out triggers, thoughts, feelings, behaviors; all surrounding the problem we are experiencing. The therapeutic relationship serves as a safe relationship to play out all the patterns and adopt new ones.

Welcome to my practice. I have been in practice since 2007 and have been featured on ABC, NBC, and KCAL as an expert psychologist. I work primarily with men who have hit “rock bottom” and would like help getting up. These men are often in crisis when we first meet. The issues I address are typically related to unhealthy sexual behaviors, infidelity, financial recklessness, gambling, drugs/alcohol, dishonesty/lying, and relational conflicts. My therapy approach is a combination of psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and the 12-Step recovery model. I also share insight from my own painful but redemptive recovery journey.

Love. Joy. Ecstasy. Awe. In my 18 years of clinical experience, I’ve discovered that we each have far more capacity for these expansive feelings than we often realize. Whether you are contending with many challenges, or feel ready to fly through the stars, I can work with you collaboratively to shape a life that fulfills your highest dreams, and maybe even soars beyond them. I’m eager to share what I’ve learned about our abilities to break out of old patterns of pain, fear, and shame into fruitful creativity and communion with the most inspiring aspects of being alive.

Since 2016, I have worked with a variety of populations in different clinical settings. Through my diverse experiences, I have come to appreciate the many backgrounds, stories and struggles that each client brings to therapy. My eclectic approach values that therapy is not a “one-size-fits-all” process. I am committed to understanding who you are, how you got here and where you want to be, so that I can tailor our sessions to meet your specific needs. I creatively integrate various treatment modalities including client-centered, mindfulness, CBT, and attachment-based therapy.

I am passionate about therapy that produces lasting, inner healing! I use a combination of several psychological theories, depending on what will best meet my client's needs, including ImTT and EMDR, to help clients experience healing and change in the places where their pain originated. This not only creates symptom reduction and/or extinction but also produces an outcome of inner peace, joy and freedom, putting an end to trying harder, pretending or "white-knuckling" through. I love this work and look forward to connecting with you in your journey toward emotional wholeness!

I believe that life ebbs and flows with the changes of life's demands. Many of these changes are positive ones, but at times hardships can follow, needing assistance and guidance in finding solutions. This is where the therapeutic process can help in alleviating your symptoms, bringing about new energy and happiness in enjoying life's many adventures. My enjoyment in the therapeutic process is one of discovery and collaboration in identifying difficulties and solutions to the patient's problems. Above all, I believe the relationship between the patient and therapist is the cornerstone to achieving the patient's goals.

Do you feel alone even when there are people around you? Do you feel empty inside? Do you struggle with creating and maintaining lasting relationships? I would like to help you with that. No doubt, you have tried to handle things alone, but that empty, heavy or lonely feeling is still there. If you often feel frustrated or disappointed in your relationships with others; if you have experienced a deep longing for a connection with another person and have not been able to create such a connection; if you have suffered a loss of a meaningful relationship - it is time to let someone help you.

I TREAT AFFAIRS- I invite you to pause and pay close attention to your inner voice. You have managed to avoid your concerns yet know at some level you are not satisfied. Do you sense your partner is cheating? Are you? Does your relationship lack intimacy and passion and feel alone when together? Sexual problems? Can't stop compulsive shopping or cybersex behavior? Emotionally exhausted from pointless dating? Lonely and disconnected? Missing"Hygge" in your home? When you look in the mirror are you dissatisfied? Life racing by leaving you feeling old and defeated? Longing to age gracefully? Can't sleep? Feeling bored professionally?