Los Angeles Chapter — California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
Voices — April 2026
Momentum-ship
Jenni Wilson, LMFT, President
Hey Membership… you up?… I’ve got some things on my mind…
Look, I know things are hard right now. All the exercise, meditation, and SSRIs in the world can’t change the reality that too many of us are worn down and burnt out, as our profession too often bears the weight of all the expectations put upon us to “fix” what’s broken in people – when too often it’s the systems around us that are broken, and breaking people. We’re lucky if our work can simply help folx to accept what’s not in their control, finding ways to exist within these broken systems while working towards sustainable change. Hell, we’re lucky if WE can simply find ways to accept and exist within these systems ourselves.
Coming at us fast and furious, the problems in our country, and in the world, are larger than our human brains and bodies were built to fully comprehend and carry. It’s difficult to understand one important issue or horrific scandal before our amygdalae become flooded with the overwhelm of ten more incomprehensible events hitting our newsfeeds and timelines on the daily. It’s sometimes challenging to find any sense of volition with the constant mishigas, mess, and violence pulling us down like quicksand, killing momentum as we become frozen in our fear, rage, or disbelief.
Conserving energy by powering down on the couch bingeing mindless distractions or revving up energetic self-righteousness by mainlining political rage through 24/7 news channels, is understandably easier than sitting with these feelings of impotence.
In conversations and consults, I note how everyone seems to be struggling to some degree questioning if what any of us are doing matters or could even make a difference – while also feeling guilty and powerless to affect change. When the Universal becomes too much, I look to the Local – flipping between the Macro and Micro channels in my mind – what power do I truly possess in this time and place in which I’m standing? How is anything I’m doing relevant?
I’m saved from the siren song of Despair whenever I refuse the rage-bait and focus on the people and efforts dearest to my heart and closest to home, which includes LA-CAMFT and all those new to this profession. Often a stranger in a strange land, myself, I’ve long sought to help others feel welcome and comfortable, normalizing the experience of uncertainty in our steps and the awkwardness of initial interactions, while humanizing myself by using my missteps and mishaps as examples and cautionary tales – of which there’re many. Where possible, I want to help others foster healthier connections, make meaning of their lives, build fulfilling careers, and minimize feelings of loneliness on the road to whatever’s next. I find being of service often reduces, if not cures, what ails.
This is why I see Mentorship as another Joyful Act of Resistance that we can offer to our colleagues.
In 2017, LA-CAMFT launched a “Membership Mentor Program,” garnering great interest, with the initial effort attracting 44 applicants to be mentors and mentees. Then, as quickly as it started, POOF! It was gone. What happened? Well, it wasn’t due to lack of interested participants, but due to a shortage of invested leadership. A program like this takes a lot of time and energy to coordinate, and the dedicated Mentorship Committee Chair was mostly flying solo, resulting in the silent dissolution of this promising endeavor by the start of 2018. Momentum was lost.
Flashforward to January 2021, when then LA-CAMFT Diversity Chair and (at the time) future 2023 President Christina “Tina” Cacho Sakai accepted the challenge posed to chapter leadership during the 2020 Anti-Racism Roundtable and formed a committee of licensed and pre-licensed therapists of color to design the LA-CAMFT Therapists of Color Mentorship Program (TOCMP). The TOCMP was the first of its kind amongst CAMFT chapters with a clear mission: to ensure quality mentorship for therapists of color by therapists of color. The committee Tina formed spent thoughtful time on the program’s purpose statement, guidelines, interest form, marketing, launch date, and more. It is clear now: The Committee was key.
The response to the TOCMP over the past 4 years has been overwhelmingly positive due to the commitment of the exceptional Committee members and the skilled stewardship of TOCMP Chair Keonna Robinson, LMFT, who assumed the mantle when Tina became President in 2023. The program was so well received, that chapters across the state developed their own offerings based on what LA-CAMFT was doing, and sought guidance from the TOCMP Committee. Most recently, in 2025, 26 Mentors were matched with 43 Mentees with a satisfaction score of 4.5 (of 5) amongst a third of participants who completed the program’s evaluation survey, and the Committee grew stronger. How cool is that?
The success of the TOCMP shows how important it is for an undertaking like this to be led by a group of LA-CAMFT members who are passionate about building and maintaining a mentorship program. To build a larger initiative open to all members, we need enthusiastic and committed members willing to volunteer their time and energy to making it happen. When people have said they wish the general membership had an offering like the TOCMP, I urge them to step up and invest in creating it, as Tina, Keonna, and many others have invested in bringing the TOCMP to life over the past five years.
So, is that you? Would you like to be part of building a larger Mentoring Program for the LA-CAMFT Membership to launch next year? Because we need you for it to happen – or it probably won’t.
If you might be excited by the prospect of helping make meaningful change happen, for the chapter, the community, and up-and-coming therapists like you are or once were, let me know at President@lacamft.org. Or find me at the 4/24 online CE-event on working with “ADHD in Couples” presented by Grazel Garcia, LMFT, or at the Spring Celebration Event on May 15th at Cheviot Hills Park – I’ll be there. Join me!
Let’s keep the Momentum-ship going in 2026, making the world a little better one therapist at a time - one Joyful Act of Resistance at a time.
Paz y Amor.
JJVW - Jenni June Villegas Wilson
Jenni J.V. Wilson, LMFT (she/her): As a collaborative conversationalist passionate about empowering and advocating for marginalized groups and underrepresented voices, Jenni uses an integrative approach based on post-modern principles to provide culturally-mindful and trauma-informed therapeutic services and clinical supervision. She works with creative, anxious, mixed race/culture, and co-dependent clients on improving and eliminating toxic relationships, while increasing authentic expression. She has a BA in theatre from Occidental College, an MA in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University LA, and is trained in EMDR, Brainspotting, and certified in Narrative Therapy. She is an accomplished writer, has produced/co-hosted multiple podcasts, worked in addiction treatment for nearly a decade, and sees the “worried well” in her private practice in Sherman Oaks. Website: www.JenniJVWilson.com
Friday, April 24, 2026 9:00am-11:00am
Online Via Zoom
2 CE Credits
Attached and ADHD: How ADHD Traits Shape Attachment Bonds in Couples
with Grazel Garcia, LMFT
This presentation offers a framework for understanding how ADHD traits intersect with attachment dynamics in couples. Executive function difficulties, rejection-sensitive dysphoria, and emotional dysregulation amplify attachment fears in specific, predictable ways, creating pursue-withdraw cycles that traditional couples therapy often cannot resolve. Drawing from her forthcoming book, ADHD and Attachment, and her clinical specialization in EFT with neurodivergent couples, the speaker offers a new lens for understanding why ADHD-impacted couples get stuck and what they actually need from their therapists. This presentation will equip participants with a conceptual foundation for recognizing the dual layers, neurological and attachment, operating in every ADHD-impacted relationship.
Educational Goals:
Attendees will gain an understanding of how ADHD traits interact with attachment patterns to create and intensify relational distress in couples. They will also acquire a conceptual framework for recognizing the neurological layer in couple dynamics.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
Grazel Garcia, LMFT (she/her) is the founder and CEO of Grazel Garcia Psychotherapy & Associates, a group practice in Los Angeles specializing in neurodiversity-affirming therapy for couples and individuals utilizing Emotionally Focused Therapy. Grazel is a certified Emotionally Focused Therapist (EFCT, EFIT, EFFT) and one of the few EFT clinicians who trains other therapists to incorporate ADHD interventions into EFT. She has lived experience in an ADHD-impacted relationship, which informs both her clinical work and her forthcoming book on ADHD and Attachment. Her practice serves entertainment industry professionals and neurodivergent couples using a culturally conscious, anti-oppressive approach. She is a clinical supervisor and is currently pursuing EFT Supervisor certification through ICEEFT. She offers virtual and in-person sessions in Atwater Village. Her website is www.grazelgarciatherapy.com.
For more information, contact Course Organizer/CE Networking Chair Shiji Yuan.
Event Details:
For: Licensed Therapists, Associates, Students, & Related Professionals
When: Friday, April 24, 2026 from 9:00am-11:00am
8:30-9:00: Check-In 9:00: Meeting/Presentation Begins 11:00: Meeting/Presentation & Related Announcements End 11:00-11:30: Participant Announcements (optional)
If you are interested in expanding your professional networking, sign up for Participant Announcements when you register. This segment is from 11:00am-11:30am, and is an optional 1/2 hour after the presentation.
After the presentation we will provide you with a link to a simple online test and evaluation questionnaire. When the test questions and the evaluation are completed, you will be provided with an online CE Certificate that can be personalized with your name and license information and either printed or saved on your computer.
Where: Online Via Zoom (Your registration confirmation email will include the Zoom link and instructions for accessing the event. A reminder email will be sent prior to the event.)
Cost:
$25 for LA-CAMFT/Other CAMFT Chapter Members, CSCSW Members
$15 for LA-CAMFT/Other CAMFT Chapter Prelicensed Members
$35 for Non-Members
$20 for Prelicensed Non-Members
Cost (2 weeks before event for licensed members):
$30 for LA-CAMFT/Other CAMFT Chapter Members, CSCSW Members
$40 for Non-Members
*Registration closes Thursday, April 23 at 10:00pm.*
(To be sure you receive any information we send prior to the event, please add networkingchair@lacamft.org to your known contacts or safe list and check your bulk, junk or promotions mailboxes for any emails from us about this event.)
Register online today! We look forward to seeing you on Zoom.
CAMFT Approved Continuing Education Provider 59450. LA-CAMFT is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for MFTs, LPCCs, and/or LCSWs. LA-CAMFT maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
This course meets the qualifications for 2 continuing education credits for MFTs, LPCCs, and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
To receive CE certificate: Participants must sign in/sign out, and must complete an evaluation form upon course completion. For a Course Schedule, please contact Course Organizer at NetworkingChair@LACAMFT.org.
Refund policy: 48-hour notice required for refund of fee minus $5.00 administrative cost. Exceptions can be made for 48-hour notice in cases of emergency. Contact Course Organizer at NetworkingChair@LACAMFT.org.
Accommodations for Special Needs: Contact Course Organizer at NetworkingChair@LACAMFT.org.
Grievances: Program Administrator/CFO manages all grievances—and will acknowledge, investigate and remedy grievances. Response to grievances will be made in writing within 30 days. Contact them at cfo@lacamft.org.
Getting Paid: Tips for Getting the Word Out About You, Your Practice & Your Expertise
Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, Voices Editor
Getting the word out about your therapy practice and the services you provide is important. To be successful in private practice, you need a steady stream of clients—QUALITY referrals that are a good match for both you and your practice.
Letting people know what you do therapeutically and how you can help them, not only helps fill your practice, it helps you help more people.
The more people who know about your therapy services and expertise, the easier it will be for those who need your services to find you when they need you and to get the help they need. Consider the ways you can let colleagues, prospective clients, and referral sources know about you and your services.
1. Getting the word out about your practice is a community service.
Getting the word out about your therapy services and expertise is really about letting people in the community know about you, your practice, and your services. It’s educating those in your community—your peers, prospective clients, and referral sources—about what therapy is, who you serve in your practice, and how you help people. Tip: When clients go to your website, directory listing, and social media pages, what they are really looking for is: Who are you? What can you do for me? How can I contact you?
Make sure your content on your website, directory listings, and social media pages gives them that information clearly and easily. Tip: It doesn’t matter what you do to get the word out about your practice and services but you have to do something. Since you have to do something, ONLY do the things you like. Tip: Remember, only do what fits or makes sense to you to get the word out—and always within legal and ethical guidelines! It’s okay to make things up to do that you like. However, you will have to try things out to see what you like. Tip: Be sure to make the act of promoting yourself and your skills and services energy producing instead of energy draining.
2. Getting to know people in your community and letting them get to know you, the services you offer, and the type of work you do, brings in quality referrals.
People who already know about, like, or trust you, are more likely to refer to you than anyone else. People trust their friends and people they know so that’s why word of mouth, whether in person or online, is the most valuable source of referrals for your practice. Tip: Connect with local businesses. Introduce yourself to other local business owners who are your neighbors. One therapist I know who moved into a new office went to each one of the businesses around her—introduced herself, met and got to know the business owners and or those who worked there, found out about their business and gave them her business cards and brochures.
Tip: Join a professional organization or association. Attend meetings of professional groups, associations or organizations to get known in your community. Become a member. Volunteer. Register and attend a conference. Tip: Post your professional and or practice information to a directory. Good Therapy, Psychology Today, LinkedIn, etc. Remember that Linked In is social media for professionals, and is a trusted source for professional services and referrals. Tip: Either donate products or volunteer your services to a worthy cause and get your name and the name of your practice out there to new people while doing a good deed. Tip: Consider getting some promotional products with your name, website, phone number, email, and or practice specialties on them to hand out. Pens, notebooks, notepads, post-it notes, shopping bags, led flashlights, etc., are all favorite types of promotional swag that people appreciate. 3. Tapping into existing relationships is the fastest way to fill and grow your practice.
People trust other people and the experiences they have so that’s why when people hear from a friend, someone they know or a professional they trust, about a service or product they choose that one over others. For therapists, the first few referrals after you open your private practice will usually come through in person connections and relationships you’ve already built. Tip: Build an email list. Who should you put on it? Include those you meet while networking but don’t stop there, add close friends, acquaintances, family members, extended family; neighbors, acquaintances. Professionals you have personally used—medical professionals such as doctors, physical therapists, psychiatrists, dentists, dental hygienists—as well as business professionals who are lawyers, estate planners, financial planners, as well as nutritionists, doulas, Lamaze instructors. Personal trainers, Pilates instructors, meditation instructors, massage therapists, aestheticians, hair stylists. Those who attend your church or who worked with you in the past as well as elementary, middle and high school teachers and coaches. Mentors, past clinical supervisors and professors, classmates and supervision group members. teachers, guidance counselors. Tip: Send regular emails to your list to keep them up to date and informed of what you are doing in your practice—do this at least three times a year. Or start a free monthly email newsletter and send it to your email list. Tip: Utilize Your Email Signature. Make sure your email signatures contain contact information for your business—links to your website, upcoming workshop, new book or audiobook, podcast, video, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube channel, etc. This makes it easy for people to know more about you and what you offer.
4. Consider using some type of social media to get the word out.
Today there are a lot of people who are looking for help—and most of them aren't asking their friends or family for referrals. They are looking on the internet at websites, social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Messenger, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Tik Tok, Viber, Pinterest, etc.) and closed groups, discussion groups or forums (Quora, Reddit, Slack, etc.). Because social media helps you build relationships, using social media to get the word out about your services allows you to showcase skills and expertise and to build relationships with existing and potential clients and referral sources. When you post a variety of content on social media (blogs, articles, videos, quotes, podcasts—your content as well as other’s), you can build recognition, connect with your peers, referral sources, and potential clients to show them that you are trustworthy. You’ll definitely get some interest in your work from this—people will love your content and want more. Tip: Not all social media platforms may be suitable for your business. Different client segments frequent different social media. There's no point in spending time and money on promoting your business on a social network that your customers don't use. Tip: When you blog or write articles regularly, social media is a great place for you to share that content. You can also share articles that you find interesting, inspirational quotes, podcasts, and videos that you think those following you would enjoy. All these are great relationship builders. Tip: Record a video blog post and put it on your website or upload the video to YouTube. Record a Facebook Live or Instagram Stories short video. People love this content and enjoy getting to know you through what they see and hear on the videos.
5. Track what’s working and then do more of it.
Know the results you get from each thing you do to get the word out and repeat what works. Quit what doesn’t work. These are all fairly low-cost and not too time-consuming tips for getting the word out. See which ones you enjoy doing and that work best to fill your practice by bringing you the clients you work with best.
Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice virtually, and in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented & Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping therapists create even more successful careers and practices. She offers in-person & online services, workshops, presentations, & monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunches. Website: www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com
LA-CAMFT Therapists of Color Grant Award & Awardees
Christina “Tina” Cacho Sakai, LMFT, SEP, TOC Grant Award Committee Chair
On March 7, 2026, the most recent awardees of the LA-CAMFT TOC Grant Award were randomly selected. They are Ticemen Merriweather and Jennifer Guerra. Each will receive a check for $530 and free admission to 3 LA-CAMFT workshops or networking events, except for the Law & Ethics Workshop.
At this time, the TOC Grant Award will be paused as the program undergoes a period of review and evaluation. This pause will allow LA-CAMFT leadership to assess the program and explore opportunities to strengthen and sustain the grant moving forward.
As a result, the next grant cycle will not begin on May 1, 2026, as previously planned.
Updates regarding future grant cycles will be shared once the review process has been completed.
Description of Grant Stipend
Every 4 months (3x per year), a grant award has been offered to two applicants who meet the following criteria:
(1) must be a current LA-CAMFT member,
(2) identify as a Therapist of Color, and
(3) must be either an Associate, Trainee, or Student still in graduate school.
Grant winners receive:
• $530 to be spent at the winner’s discretion
• Free admission to 3 LA-CAMFT workshops or networking events of the winner’s choosing, with the exception of the Law & Ethics Workshop
The $530 award can be used at the recipient’s discretion based on their own individual needs (whether it be for BBS fees, testing materials, memberships, rent, groceries, etc.). Confirmation of how the money is used is not required.
Application and Selection Process
Interested members complete the application on the LA-CAMFT website. The selection process entails using a randomized generator of applicants who meet the full criteria and complete the application online. This approach is intended to reduce human bias and decrease activation of one's trauma history.
The drawing is recorded via Zoom and posted on social media along with an announcement naming the grant winners, who are also contacted directly via email.
While the grant program is currently paused for re-evaluation, no new application cycles are open at this time. Updates and future application dates will be shared once the review process has been completed.
Warm Regards,
The LA-CAMFT TOC Grant Committee
The Narcissist’s Playbook: Manipulation Tactics Common in Divorce
Steven Unruh, MDiv, LMFT
You knew divorce would be hard—but you didn’t expect this. One minute your spouse is charming and cooperative, the next they’re cold, cutting, and claiming you’re the unreasonable one. Friends hear one story; you’re living another. And as the legal process unfolds, you start to wonder: Am I losing my grip, or is something else going on?
If this feels familiar, you may be experiencing the classic tactics of a narcissist during divorce.
When Divorce Becomes a Battleground
Divorcing a narcissist is not like a typical breakup—it becomes a game of psychological chess.
First, there’s the outward struggle: a spouse who rewrites history, twists conversations, lies effortlessly, or uses the legal system to intimidate you. They may withhold finances, manipulate the children, or launch a smear campaign to damage your reputation.
Then comes the emotional toll: you feel confused, exhausted, and constantly on edge. You start doubting your own reality. You wonder if you’re overreacting or if anyone will believe you. You feel trapped in a cycle you didn’t choose.
At the deepest level, there is the question of fairness: No one should have to defend their sanity against someone who pretends to be the victim while causing harm. No one deserves to be manipulated by the person who promised to love them. It’s simply wrong—and it’s why so many people feel hopeless.
But the truth is this: you don’t have to let their playbook determine the outcome. There is a better way forward.
A Better Path Forward
I’ve been a divorce mediator for more than 30 years. I’ve guided thousands of individuals through high-conflict, emotionally charged divorces—many involving partners with narcissistic traits.
I understand how draining and disorienting this process can be. I care deeply about helping people like you find clarity, regain control, and move through divorce without losing yourself in the chaos.
Below, I’ll walk you through the most common manipulation tactics used by narcissists—and how to neutralize them. You’ll also see why mediation can be a powerful tool for protecting your wellbeing and preventing unnecessary emotional and financial harm.
1. Gaslighting: Rewriting Reality
Narcissists are masters at distorting the truth. They deny conversations happened, twist your words, accuse you of things you never did, and make you question your memory.
How to protect yourself:
Mediation can help here—because the presence of a neutral guide limits their ability to rewrite the narrative.
2. The Victim Act: Playing Innocent While Attacking You
In public or in court, they may portray themselves as calm, wounded, “trying their best.” Meanwhile, behind closed doors, they’re doing everything possible to undermine you.
How to respond:
Mediators are trained to see through performative behavior and keep the process focused on truth, not theatrics.
3. Financial Manipulation: Money as a Weapon
This may include hiding assets, cutting off access to funds, refusing to pay bills, or suddenly changing spending habits.
Protect yourself by:
In mediation, financial transparency is required and enforced, making it harder for them to manipulate resources.
4. Using Children as Leverage
Narcissists may attempt to turn the children against you, control visitation, or make false claims about your parenting.
Your strategy:
A skilled mediator ensures children’s needs—not the narcissist’s ego—remain at the center.
5. Smear Campaigns and Reputation Attacks
They may spread rumors, exaggerate flaws, or try to isolate you from friends, family, or professionals.
Countermeasures:
Mediation reduces the opportunities for public drama and helps you resolve issues privately and respectfully.
When You Feel Doubt or Resistance
It’s normal to worry: Will mediation still work if my ex is manipulative? Will I be steamrolled again? These concerns are real—and valid.
But mediation doesn’t mean surrender. It means structure. It means a trained professional ensures conversations stay productive, boundaries stay intact, and the narcissist can’t derail the process.
Many clients are surprised at how empowering mediation feels once they have someone guiding the process and enforcing fairness.
Take Your Next Step Toward Peace
You don’t have to keep spinning in circles. You don’t have to keep defending your sanity. You don’t have to let a narcissist dictate the tone or outcome of your divorce.
You can take back control.
That future is possible—and it starts with taking the first step.
Steven Unruh, MA, MDiv, is a Divorce Mediator and LMFT. He and his team at Unruh Mediation complete the entire divorce process, including all assets, pensions, properties, alimony and child support—along with all required documentation. Unruh Mediation files in 13 different courthouses throughout Southern California. Website: stevenunruh.com
Therapists of Color Support Group
Meets Every Quarter
Next Meeting: Sunday, 2026 11:00 am-1:00 pm (PT)
A safe place to receive peer support and process experiences of racism (systemic, social, and internalized), discrimination, implicit bias, racist injury, aggression, and micro-aggressions, along with additional experiences that therapists of color encounter in the field of mental health.
Open to LA-CAMFT Members and Non-Members.
For more information, contact the Diversity Committee.
For: Licensed Therapists, Associates, and Students
Event Details: Sunday, January 2026 from 11:00 am-1:00 pm (PT) Time of Check-In: 10:50 am
Where: Online Via Zoom (Upon registration for the presentation, you will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to our Zoom meeting.)
Cost: No charge
*Registration is open and available until the group begins.*
In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
Maya Angelou
Stay tuned!
https://lacamft.org/Diversity-Committee
Member Article
When Your Work Requires You to Be Seen: Authenticity, Boundaries, and the Cost for High Visibility Professionals
Taylor Schwartz, LMFT
In Los Angeles and similar cultural hubs, many professionals make their living by being visible. Actors, athletes, influencers, founders, executives, creatives, attorneys, and public-facing leaders are required not only to perform their roles well, but to be perceived well. Success depends on presentation, likability, responsiveness, and reputation. Yet the impact of this constant visibility on overall well-being is rarely discussed.
For many, the cost of being seen is subtle at first: a feeling of being “on” even in private moments, or a quiet disconnection from one’s inner life. Over time, the question emerges sometimes as anxiety, burnout, or depression: When my work requires me to be seen, where does my authentic self go?
Visibility and the Development of the False Self
Psychotherapist James F. Masterson spent most of his work studying how people develop their “real” selves and the protective layers we build when being our “authentic” self feels unsafe. In his book The Search for the Real Self (1988), he explains that the “false self” isn’t a sign of something wrong, it’s a coping mechanism. It forms when we feel that our safety, love, or approval depends on meeting other people’s expectations. In other words, we start living based on what we think others want from us, instead of what feels true inside.
For high-visibility professionals, this can happen quite often. Things like personal branding, engaging with an audience, managing your image, and trying to be liked professionally often reward hiding your true feelings and carefully controlling your behavior. Over time, the version of you that works well in public can start to overshadow the private you, the one that’s spontaneous, emotionally alive, and guided by your own inner feelings.
When the Persona Replaces the Person
The challenge arises when the line between role and identity becomes blurred. Many high-visibility professionals report feeling emotionally flattened, unsure of what they want outside of external signs of success, or disconnected in intimate relationships. Even rest can feel like you’re playing a role. If you don’t take intentional time to reconnect with yourself, you can start living based on what’s expected of you instead of what you actually feel.
This disconnect often isn’t discussed, especially in environments where success is seen as the same thing as well-being. But inside, many people still feel empty or anxious, even when they appear successful.
Gabor Maté on Authenticity and Attachment
Physician and trauma expert Gabor Maté offers another perspective. Maté in his work emphasizes that one of the core wounds of trauma is the loss of authenticity in order to stay connected or accepted by others. As he writes:
“The greatest damage done by trauma is not what happens to us, but what we lose from ourselves in order to survive.”
For many public-facing professionals, survival does not look like chaos or deprivation, it looks like approval, relevance, and continued access. However, the nervous system does not distinguish between real danger and the fear of losing connection. When belonging depends on being likeable, productive, or admired, authenticity can be lost. Over time, the body bears the cost.
Boundaries in a World Without Them
Constant visibility can blur the line between work and personal life. Fans, clients, or followers can often expect unlimited access and availability to you. One-sided “screen friendships” (parasocial relationships) make it even more challenging to tell where your professional life ends and your personal life begins. Advice like “just log off,” “say no,” or “take a break” doesn’t always work for those whose jobs depend on being seen and connected, because it ignores the financial pressures and relationship expectations that come with high-visibility work.
What is needed instead is a deeper, psychologically informed approach to boundaries, one that acknowledges the nervous system impact of constant access and helps restore internal separateness without threatening livelihood or identity.
Ways to Stay Aligned with Your Authentic Self
For individuals whose work requires constant visibility, authenticity can be quietly lost over time. The following practices are ways you can reclaim your authentic self.
Therapy as a Space for High Visible Professionals to Be Unseen
Therapy offers something rare: a safe, contained space where nothing needs to be managed, marketed, or maintained. It is a place where you are listened to and thoughtfully reflected, allowing the public self to rest, and the authentic self to reemerge without constraints.
Realignment does not require abandoning one’s career or visibility. It involves restoring choices, learning to move between your public and private self with intention, rather than automatically.
Therapy is often most meaningful when it becomes more than symptom relief, but a space for personal growth, clarity, and deeper self-understanding. In a life of constant visibility and expectation, there is immense value in having a place where nothing is required of you. You do not have to disappear to reconnect with yourself. Sometimes, you simply need a space where you can be unseen.
Taylor Schwartz, LMFT is a somatic and psychodynamic therapist and owner of Inner Strength Therapy in Beverly Hills, California, specializing in anxiety, high-visibility professionals, and narcissistic abuse recovery. Her work integrates depth psychology and nervous system healing to support clients in reconnecting with themselves, strengthen emotional resilience, and create meaningful, lasting change. Website: istherapy.net.
Jessica Lynn Idoine, LMFT
Shortly after marrying young and experiencing psychological safety for the first time, I went through a period where my inner world finally caught up with what I had carried for years. I could not reliably function at work or school. It was at this point when I meaningfully engaged in individual therapy for the first time. I did not have language for it then, but I was living with depression and the long shadow of complex trauma from my childhood and adolescence.
Trauma therapy became the start of my healing journey. I had the profound privilege, not only of receiving mental health treatment, but of doing so with steady support from my partner.
Slowly, my symptoms eased and my confidence returned. A year later, more family trauma and loss brought me back into a familiar place of overwhelm and shutdown, and I needed a higher level of care for a brief time.
Perhaps the most significant turning point in my recovery came when I supplemented talk therapy with somatic practice, especially yoga in a group class setting. I began to understand, in my own body, what many of us now teach our clients: trauma is not only a story we remember, it’s a pattern the nervous system learns. Somatic practices can support healing by building capacity for nervous system regulation, presence, and choice, sometimes even when our most diligent cognitive efforts have reached their limits. Inspired by the transformation these practices brought me, I returned to school and became a yoga, Pilates, and dance conditioning teacher.
While teaching private lessons, I noticed something that will feel familiar to many in our field. Students would often begin to share their lives with me, not because I invited it, but because movement spaces can feel unusually safe, and they wanted to connect. I respected the boundaries of my role. Still, I felt a clear pull toward becoming a different kind of healer, a mental health practitioner.
With the support of my partner and my therapist, I returned to school and earned three degrees to become an MFT. Early on, I planned to work primarily with adolescents, given my minor and research experience in adolescent development, and my years of volunteer experience as a Court Appointed Special Advocate and a yoga teacher at a shelter for adolescents.
Over time, my own self-of-the-therapist work and the influence of an inspiring graduate school cohort oriented me toward relationship and sex therapy. Eventually, I reached a long-held goal of becoming an LMFT, a relationship and AASECT-certified sex therapist with training in EMDR therapy and the Trauma Resiliency Model.
Even as my clinical path clarified, I realized I still needed something essential: community. I offered virtual therapy, and I felt a growing desire to connect with colleagues in-person. While I attended a smaller monthly gathering of local sex therapists, I did not feel at home in larger networking spaces.
It was at LA-CAMFT events that I found my therapist community. I was able to support pre- licensed clinicians, network with professionals across related fields, and learn from therapists with different specialties and deeper experience.
I felt welcomed in a way that was both warm and grounded, and I experienced something that can be rare in professional spaces: a culture where you can be both a therapist and a human. People were genuinely interested in knowing one another and lifting one another up. There were no exclusionary cliques, and diversity, equity, and inclusion did not feel like lip service. It was an ethic expressed through small moments of openness, curiosity, and care.
At first, I was primarily focused on what this community offered me personally and professionally, attending events and micro-volunteering. As sociopolitical upheaval in our country has increasingly and disproportionately impacted marginalized and historically oppressed communities, advocacy and collective care have taken on greater salience in my clinical work. I have grown more grounded in the broader role we hold as mental health professionals: engaging in social justice efforts and helping protect the dignity and wellbeing of the people we serve, however each of us chooses to do so. LA-CAMFT’s commitment to challenging oppression and advancing DEI offers a clear and meaningful place to step into that work.
I am grateful to serve on the 2026 LA-CAMFT board of directors, and I look forward to advocating for the needs of our diverse and thriving membership in this role and beyond. As we continue brainstorming how to best serve our membership and the greater local community at this moment, I welcome constructive feedback and suggestions at presidentelect@lacamft.org.
LA-CAMFT is always looking for volunteers, including one-time events and micro-volunteering. We are stronger together. I believe our greatest impact comes from staying connected, staying engaged, and continuing to show up for one another and the communities we serve.
Jessica Lynn Idoine, LMFT, is a relationship and AASECT-certified Sex Therapist working with adults and specializing in intimacy, communication, desire differences, and relational repair. While working at the group practice Creating Change LA in Beverly Hills, she especially enjoys providing inclusive, affirming, and kink-aware care to LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, and non-monogamous clients. Jessica is the founder of Expansive Connections Retreats, which blends relationship science psycho-education with experiential, somatic relationship work in an island setting.
Black Therapist Support Group
Second Monday of Every Month
Next Meeting: Monday, April 13, 2026 6:00pm-7:30pm
A safe place for healing, connection, support and building community. In this group, licensed clinicians, associates and students can come together and process experiences of racism (systemic, social, and internalized), discrimination, implicit bias, and micro-aggressions, along with additional experiences that therapists of African descent encounter in the field of mental health. As the late great Maya Angelou once said, “As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal someone else.” May this space, be the support needed to facilitate that journey.
When: Monday, April 13, 2026 from 6:00pm-7:30pm (Check-In: 5:50pm)
Guest Article
The Wealthy Spirit: Rules For Affirmations
Chellie Campbell, Financial Stress Reduction Expert
"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. You must be able to sustain yourself against staggering blows. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much farther than people with vastly superior talent." -Sophia Loren
Great inner drive is sustained by daily positive thoughts about yourself and your expectations for your future. Affirmations are designed to help you with this process, but they only work if you say them. Knowing about them isn’t the same as doing them.
When you make the commitment to practicing positive thinking on a daily basis, what affirmations should you use? You can use the affirmations in this book, collect them from other books, or write your own. Whichever you choose, make sure that they follow the three rules for creating affirmations:
Today’s Affirmation: “I always have plenty of money!”
When does the customer get free beer??
I have to admit that I was skeptical about affirmations to begin with. Just a little niggling thought in my head kept snarking, “That’s magical thinking, Chellie. That can’t really work.”
And I thought that as long as I didn’t actually DO them. Funny how nothing much ever works if you don’t put it into practice…but every successful person I’ve ever seen, talked to, read about, has said that positive thinking not only works, but is required if you want to be successful.
One year, while on a Christmas shopping trip with my sisters, I actually found that sign “Free beer tomorrow”! Pretty funny, since I had been telling the story about it for years. I bought it, of course.
One of the reasons I designed this book as a page-a-day book was to promote the idea that affirmations needed to be practiced on a daily basis. Did you know the average person has about 60,000 thoughts a day? Studies have shown that 95% of your thoughts are the same thoughts you had yesterday (not a whole lot of new, creative thinking going on), and 80% of them are negative.
If you think negatively about your chances of success, chances are you won’t take any action to get it. But if you think positively, you’ll get out and try something – take a class, do research, ask a questions – and your actions will likely lead to something positive happening.
Affirmations make you feel like getting started. So do them. Or be a couch potato. Your choice.
Chellie Campbell, Financial Stress Reduction Expert, is the author of bestselling books The Wealthy Spirit, Zero to Zillionaire, and From Worry to Wealthy: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Success Without the Stress. She has been treating Money Disorders like Spending Bulimia and Income Anorexia in her Financial Stress Reduction® Workshops for over 25 years and is still speaking, writing, and teaching workshops—now as Zoom classes and The Wealthy Spirit Group on Facebook—with participants from all over the world. Website: www.chellie.com
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