About MeLicensed Clinical Social Worker • California
I'm Esma.
I run a boutique private practice specializing in integrative, depth-oriented online therapy for adults throughout California. My work centers on anxiety, complex trauma, and attachment-related patterns, the kind that show up in relationships, in the body, and in the way you move through the world. I get to the root, not just what's on the surface.
I hold an MSW from the University of Southern California and have over 10 years of clinical experience with post-graduate training in trauma treatment, including advanced Brainspotting directly with David Grand, PhD, the founder of the model. I have also trained at the Pacific Trauma Center, where I deepened my work in complex trauma and attachment-based treatment.
My practice is intentionally small so that I can offer each client thoughtful, focused care. Working together is designed for depth, clarity, and meaningful, lasting change – not just temporary relief.
Many clients choose to work with me because they want therapy that is highly personalized, thoughtful, and results-oriented, where their time, privacy, and goals are treated with the utmost care.
Who this is ForI Work With Adults Navigating Life’s Challenges—You’re Not Meant to Do This Alone
I help clients navigate and resolve challenges in the following areas
Complex trauma or C-PTSD (including what happened and what didn't happen but should have)
Anxiety that just won't stop including health anxiety
Relationships and Love- Breaking the cycle of toxic relationships · Moving on from an ex · Healing fears and being open to love · Situationships· Putting an end to chronic cheating
Dysfunctional Family Systems- People-pleasing · Difficulty with boundaries · Over-functioning · Guilt tripping/Emotional manipulation · Estrangement from family
Money and Finances- Identity & self-worth tied to money · Transcending your original socioeconomic status · Fear of success or failure · Guilt & shame with money · Compulsive spending & shopping addiction · Legacy burdens of generational wealth
A sense that previous therapy helped in some ways · but something deeper still needs attention · Wanting to move from intellectual understanding into embodied change
My pathWhy I Do This Work
I became a therapist because I've lived what my clients describe. I've experienced attachment trauma myself. I know what it feels like to understand your patterns clearly and still feel caught in them, and I know what it takes to move through it.
I spent years in my own therapy, doing the intellectual work. Understanding my patterns. Naming my attachment style. And still, something in my nervous system hadn't shifted. The insight was there, but the felt experience hadn't changed.
That's when I found Brainspotting. And something moved that insight alone couldn't reach.
It wasn't about thinking harder or understanding more. It was about finally accessing what was stored beneath the story. That experience changed how I practice. I don't do therapy that stays in your head. I do therapy that reaches the places where the real work lives.
Today, I work with people who are ready for that kind of depth — people who've done some version of the work before and know there's more underneath. People who are done managing and ready to actually heal.
My ApproachIntegrative, Depth-Oriented, Human
Your nervous system, your attachment history, and what's emerging in the moment all shape the work. I attune to where you are and adjust the approach accordingly, so the pace always feels manageable.
I weave Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and somatic approaches responsively. Different moments in therapy call for different tools. The modalities shift based on what's needed. The relationship stays steady.
Sometimes we need to talk. Sometimes we need to sit with what the body is holding. Sometimes we need to listen to what a part of you has been carrying for a long time. I follow the thread wherever it leads.
Intentional, Results-Oriented CareDesigned to Support Real Progress and Long-Term Well being
You want an approach that supports meaningful growth and evolving independence over time
Meaningful progress. Not indefinite therapy:
My goal as a therapist is not to keep clients in therapy longer than needed, but to support them in reaching a level of healing where they feel less reliant on ongoing, consistent sessions.
Clients who work with me often find that they are able to make meaningful progress in their healing. As a result, many clients graduate from weekly therapy to biweekly sessions and then to as-needed support. My goal is to help you achieve your goals, so that you can move on.
If a regular therapy time is not currently available, I invite you to revisit, as openings can change. In the meantime, you’re also welcome to begin sooner by combining Brainspotting Group Therapy + Occasional Individual Sessions As-Needed for a flexible approach. To check current availability, please click the contact button.
What Brings People HereWhat I Work With
I specialize in the patterns that are hardest to see from the inside.
How I PracticeWhat I Stand For
Depth Over Speed
Real change takes time. We go at the pace that actually serves the work, not faster than your nervous system can integrate.
Honesty
I'll be direct with you. Kindly, but directly. You deserve a therapist who tells you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
Body & Mind
The body holds information that thinking alone can't access. Working with both mind and nervous system is how change becomes lasting.
The Relationship
Therapy is relational. The safety and trust between us isn't a nice-to-have. It's the foundation everything else is built on.
“My therapeutic approach is one of wholeness. Rather than finding temporary relief of symptoms, I help clients find lasting growth and healing.”
How I workTherapeutic Modalities
I don't use just one approach. I pull from multiple evidence-based modalities based on what the moment calls for.
PrimaryBrainspotting
A powerful, brain-body approach that accesses unprocessed trauma and emotional material by using your visual field to locate and process "brainspots" — points where the body holds activation. It bypasses the thinking brain to access what talk therapy often can't reach.
PrimaryACT, CBT & DBT
Evidence-based frameworks that build concrete skills — identifying thought patterns, developing distress tolerance, and learning to act from your values rather than your anxiety. I draw on these as needed, woven into the deeper relational work.
IntegrativeInternal Family Systems
IFS works with the "parts" of you — the protector who people-pleases, the inner critic that won't shut up, the exile carrying old pain. We get to know them, understand their role, and help them update to the present.
IntegrativeSomatic Approaches
Your body keeps the score. Somatic work means paying attention to what your nervous system is doing — the tightness, the numbness, the activation — and using that information as a doorway into deeper processing.
How I WorkServices
Depth-oriented therapy for people who are done with surface-level solutions.
Individual Therapy
One-on-one sessions tailored to your history, your nervous system, and your goals. We work at your pace — and we go as deep as you're ready to go. Anxiety, trauma, attachment, identity — we'll get to the root together.
Learn more →
Brainspotting Group Therapy
A small, curated group experience that combines the depth of Brainspotting with the healing power of being witnessed. There's something that shifts when you realize you're not the only one carrying this.
Learn more →From the blogThoughts on Therapy & Healing
Take the First StepIf Something Here Resonated
If you're ready for therapy that meets you where you are, let's talk.