Cecilia Samartin, LMFT

Cecilia Samartin is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California with two decades of clinical experience. She works with people facing relationship strain, grief, self-esteem struggles, parenting stress, and big life changes. Cecilia aims to make sessions direct and practical so clients can notice small shifts quickly.

Her style centers on listening first and then building simple, useful tools. She combines cognitive behavioral ideas with client-centered and narrative approaches to help people reframe painful events. Sessions focus on clear goals and steps people can try between meetings.

Cecilia pays attention to patterns that repeat in relationships and personal stories. She helps clients name those patterns and test new ways of responding. This often involves looking at thoughts, emotions, and the stories people tell about themselves.

She also draws on psychodynamic and solution-focused ways of working when helpful. That can mean tracing early experiences that still matter today or identifying immediate, manageable changes to try. Cecilia keeps language plain and practical during work together.

People seeking help for caregiver stress, blended family challenges, commitment concerns, or body image issues will find specific, goal-oriented support. Her approach aims to balance short-term problem solving with deeper understanding. Cecilia views therapy as a collaborative process where clients set the pace and direction.

How Cecilia’s Approaches Work Online

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Cecilia uses CBT to help people spot unhelpful thinking and try new, realistic ways of thinking and acting to reduce distress.

Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and respect. In this approach she follows the client’s pace, reflects what she hears, and helps people feel understood so they can make choices that fit their values.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Cecilia works with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences, mixing styles when that helps. She treats the choice of techniques as a conversation rather than a fixed prescription.

Online therapy formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions are useful for face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and messaging let people share updates between sessions and fit therapy into a busy day.