I take an integrative approach to therapy with an emphasis on a client-centered approach to build rapport and meet the needs of my clients. I specialize in working with trauma survivors, anxiety disorders, and relationship-based issues.

If you are reading this, you are very likely feeling anxiety about any number of things in your life and looking for a therapist who can help change that. So here’s an important thing to keep in mind: The therapists whose profile pages you are scrolling through also feel anxiety. No one is immune, it’s part of being human. My own anxiety is what led me to channel my 25+ years of experience as a writer and editor into my therapy practice and, I think, what makes me good at it. While I initially saw psychotherapy as a career shift, I soon recognized it instead as an extension of a craft I’d been honing all along—an opportunity to apply narrative instincts in ways that help people manage change, both wanted and unwanted. Years of overthinking—and, yes, therapy—have led to a new understanding of the role this discomfort has played in my life, for better and for worse, and how it’s shaped my story. A narrative therapist’s role is not to give you the answer or the cure, it’s to help you better understand your own story so you can tell it differently. If anxiety has led you to look for support, then it is already doing you a service. Our first meeting will be free of charge, and if we choose to move forward together, we’ll take it from there.

Life can be messy and overwhelming, and seeking support is a courageous step. I provide a warm, welcoming space to help you work through challenges, heal from past experiences, and move toward a life that feels more authentic and fulfilling.

I am a clinical psychologist located in Manhattan Beach, where I have practiced for several years.  My work with people is based on a core belief that new relationships have the ability to profoundly change and improve peoples? lives.  I view my role as an active participant and strive to create a safe and supportive place in which together we can explore and try to understand whatever is making life difficult. This insight and clarity often leads people to experience an expansion of choices and more satisfying ways of being and relating.  Please feel free to explore my Web site and don?t hesitate to call with any questions.

When life gives you lemons ... what do you do? Whether you believe we choose our own circumstances, that there is a master plan, or that sometimes stuff happens, you still have reactions, feelings, and decisions to make about "what next?" I trust and respect your ability to make good choices and decisions, when you are able to pay attention to your inner voice, your sense of who you are at the core. I will help you discover, re-discover, or create your true self, so that problems in your life become opportunities for growth. I sometimes conduct sessions that are not framed by the clock, working with individuals or couples until a natural stopping point. This flexible scheduling allows for resolution and re-direction in a more time-friendly manner. I help couples learn to value and appreciate the differences that have been driving them apart, and to regain the loving feelings that brought them together. I help those with a medical condition deal with the anger, depression, frustration, and other feelings that are associated with illness, and I also provide a safe place for their family members or significant others to deal with their own feelings and concerns. My therapy dog, Archie, is a hypoallergenic sweet little guy who loves to be in sessions. I am no longer on any insurance panels. If you wish, I provide statements for you to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement of a percentage of fees.

I offer individual therapy for adults and teens and couples therapy. I have over 12 years of experience working in the mental health and treatment field in various capacities. I have extensive experience providing both group and individual therapy to people struggling with substance abuse, behavioral addictions, trauma, mood disorders, and anxiety. My approach to therapy is holistic and integrative, but rooted in person-centered, psychodynamic, and trauma-informed perspectives. At the core of my practice lies a deep belief in the power of authentic connection and the transformative impact of therapy. Having personally experienced the benefits of therapy, I am dedicated to creating a safe and nurturing space where clients can explore their inner worlds with honesty, compassion, and curiosity. I view therapy as a collaborative and creative process rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. I am passionate about and committed to psychotherapy. I believes that asking for support takes a tremendous amount of courage and that it is an honor and a privilege to guide others through this process.

Are you living with past trauma or navigating a significant life transition? Feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed as a result? Maybe a relationship has ended or a new phase of life has just begun, or perhaps you’re living with the long-term effects of abuse, assault, chronic health conditions, or another traumatic experience. You may feel unsafe and out of control of your life or emotions... anxious about even the smallest things, or like you just can’t find your footing. Despite how hard things are right now, you know there’s more to life than this. Clients come to me looking for someone who isn’t clinical or cold, but instead creates a space where they feel safe opening up about some of the most intimate parts of their lives. I will help you break down the negative thought patterns that are holding you back, build healthy coping skills, and finally put down the burdens of your past.

I hold a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, which has equipped me with the knowledge and expertise to address a wide range of emotional and relational issues. My education and ongoing training allow me to provide evidence-based therapeutic interventions and support tailored to your unique needs. Deciding if it's the right time for therapy can be a deeply personal choice. If you're experiencing emotional distress, facing life transitions, or struggling with relationships, therapy can be a beneficial resource. It's essential to acknowledge your own readiness and willingness to engage in the therapeutic process. Therapy can be a powerful tool for personal growth and healing. In my practice, I incorporate several therapeutic modalities, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). EMDR is an evidence-based therapy used to treat trauma, anxiety, and other emotional distress. It involves a structured eight-phase approach, including assessment, desensitization, and reprocessing, helping individuals process and heal from distressing experiences.

CLIENT REVIEWS AND TESTIMONIALS FOR COUPLES THERAPIST Laressa Desmond PhD, LMFT Welcome! 32 years experience helping Couples in the LA area. My goal is to help you enhance & improve your relationship so that you can leave therapy & live your life. I provide Couples Therapy and Marriage Counseling as well as PreMarital Counseling. As a Relationship Therapist I help couples in all stages of love -- Dating, living together, committed, engaged, married & I also help couples with Infidelity Recovery. I am available to help you enhance your emotional life together or, if you're struggling, I can help you fix your relationship before things go too far. To see all of the ways that I can help you please visit my extensive website for Couples Therapy and PreMarital Counseling. CLIENT REVIEWS AND TESTIMONIALS ..... "...I'm really grateful we found you to help us out. This is the toughest time we’ve been through in our marriage. Thank you again for your help." Clients ~~~ Northridge, CA "...Hello Laressa it was very nice meeting with you yesterday. We really felt comfortable with you and look forward to the work we will do." Clients ~~~ West Hills, CA "...You have been so helpful! Thank you so much! We will follow up with the suggestions you gave us. Again your help is so appreciated!  You have reminded us that there are good people out there, and have helped us feel supported and confident about reaching out for help." Clients ~~~ Glendale, CA "...I was interested in couples therapy for my fiancé and myself due to experiencing a difficult time due to an infidelity issue which I recently found out about.  I got laryngitis and completely lost my voice from crying so much this close to our wedding next month. Thank you for helping us with this and showing us some hope and conflict solving tools." Clients ~~~ Culver City, CA "...My husband and I went through infertility for 3.5 years, having 4 IUIs, 2 surgeries, 3 IVFs and 2 miscarriages.  Now we're waiting to be picked through an adoption agency. I know it will happen eventually it is all just a matter of time.  Anywhooo, it' s been really hard on me as you know since my sisters pregnant again. I just feel so sad for me and my hubby. We really needed a therapist to help with the emotional load which was tearing us up. Your calm guidance and understanding is a god send. We appreciate what you're doing for our marriage." Clients - Marina Del Rey, CA "...As you know my boyfriend and I have been going through a lot lately and we need this therapy because we can't seem to understand or let go of our hurt. Last nights session was a lift. Thanks you for listening and helping us. We appreciate your ideas." Clients ~~~ Studio City, CA "...We were referred by our son’s therapist. He recommended Laressa as a couples therapist for my wife and I. We never compromise on anything plus I can't do right whatever I do. It just saddens me for everything to be a battle. My wife says our marriage is too much pain & she thinks I hate everything which is unbelievable to me. We have marriage counseling twice a month because of my travel schedule. She is fair to us both and works with our schedule. We have been getting better and I think its because she helps us communicate in her office. It is a slow go but we both feel a light and some hope." Clients ~~~ Agoura Hills, CA "...I'm relationship savvy, but I still went through amazingly confusing times in my relationship. My therapist, Laressa, grounded me when I felt like a plastic bag in the wind. What I liked was her experience and perspective, and how she applied it to me. I work in film so I'm also a stickler for authenticity." Clients ~~~ Hollywood, CA "...Thanks for your help. We feel comfortable with your knowledge and professional attitude. Our sessions with you are amazing. My girlfriend feels the change now and ditto for me." Clients - Brentwood, CA "We just met with you for 6 weeks of premarital counseling. We really appreciate how thorough you are in going over all the aspects of a strong marriage with us plus helping us with some issues that we always struggled with. So glad you could be our counselor." Clients ~~~ Encino, CA "...Very helpful. Good therapist. Productive experience." Clients ~~~ West Lake Village, CA “…Our premarital sessions were awesome. We loved her menu of things to discuss that we hadn't really focused on before. We really found value in sitting with her and recommend her." Clients ~~~ Culver City, CA “…We recommend our counselor Dr D for premarital counseling sessions. My partner and I (together 6 years now) are psyched to start a new part of our lives together. We got engaged this summer. I often (because of my childhood) thought about specific therapy to help us get further along in communication. My parents got divorced when I was 9 (confused me about marriage) so I wanted someone experienced to help me past blind spots. We asked for premarital counseling then met with her that week. She was specific about the areas we needed, also the main components of happy marriages that can last. We really like her, especially how detailed she can be on certain topics so we learn the why and how. It’s comfortable for us (actually the time flies). We went for the 6 session deal package (half way through now). I feel stronger about how to manage my fears plus my partner is being less critical. We’re really happy with the process. I recommend it if you're planning to get married." Clients ~~~ West Los Angeles, CA “…My fiancé & I are in a really good place most of the time. No major grief on the horizon but premarital counseling was something we put on our list because we thought it would be helpful to spend time with an expert to get some tools or tips for the long view. We did the 6 sessions package. It was amazing! It gave us so much to talk about during the week along with all sorts of things we never actually discussed before. Dr Laressa was very organized, clear in her approach, honestly it was surprisingly informative. Really enjoyable counseling experience. We looked forward to our weekly sessions. It was like a date night, after sessions we got a coffee & talked for hours. We decided that if we ever need marriage counseling in the future we know who we’ll turn to. Good experience. Definitely recommend it.” Clients ~~~ Playa Del Rey, CA “…My fiancé and I were looking to improve our communication. Laressa was able to see us late during the week which worked out fine. We are in our 40's now and this will be a second marriage for each of us. Obviously we never got it right so this time we want to find a formula to succeed. We are using the premarital approach to lock down a formula we can agree on for future times of stress. Now 3 weeks into the process we're both feeling optimistic. I think the premarital sessions help us be more stable during rough moments. She's very perceptive but always kind and really skilled about relationships so we are thinking we can maybe get it right this time now that we're learning new skills for communication." Clients ~~~ Brentwood, CA “…Me & my fiancé met with Laressa to explore premarital counseling. We've been together since college & engaged for 3 months. Our wedding is a year out but we've been going through some very tough problems recently that have built up for a while. We were planning on seeking premarital counseling anyway but later on closer to the wedding, sadly things have been spiraling & we felt we needed to address some issues urgently. We wrote her & she set us up for a session on a Sunday. For me I was relieved that she understood our situation quickly & gave us advice that was gentle. That’s a big thing for my fiancé because he had a counselor in college that ragged on him so he was worried about that, but she gave us some insights in a kind way. After we worked through our recent conflict she did the Pillars of a Happy Marriage with us & that was awesome. We recommend her & really recommend premarital counseling now.” Clients ~~~ Santa Monica, CA “…My fiancé & I needed serious help. Engaged in September, everything’s still been a struggle ever since. Our fights are terrible, he's always breaking off with me. We’ve been together 2 years & always say how much we love each. He says our problems are my problems trusting him since he had a mental affair with a girl from his past that I found out about when I checked his phone. We were hoping to find someone that can give us hope & guidance before he says my resentment will kill things forever. He's also depressed because he feels guilty. I'm mad at him for being mad at me. My parents want me to leave him which isn't helping me. He hasn't told his parents but I think he should. We're totally stuck & the wedding is in 3 months. We both thought if we got counseling maybe both we could fix our relationship. I thought about premarital counseling for ages but my fiancé wasn’t sure about it, then I saw an episode of Dr Phil where he recommended premarital counseling to someone with a similar problem. "We found Dr Desmond through a Google search & she responded back quickly. We asked her if we could get a combination of premarital counseling & some couples therapy for our other problems. Our counseling with her was helpful because after that first one I felt so much hope that we could get through it. She's easy to talk to, plus taught us things we needed. She was able to see us at night after work so that made things possible for us. It’s not perfect yet but we feel we’re lifting back up to how we should be. I can almost start thinking about the wedding again without freaking out.” Clients ~~~ West Hills, CA “…I reached out for premarital therapy because my fiancé & I were having some problems.  It’s been a lot recently, especially because our wedding is in seven months. My fiancé is from Ecuador but we met when he was here on vacation. Everything was over the top for us, I truly feel he’s my prince, but now that he’s here we’re finally close everyday with a lot of problem triggers over small things. I feel I cant do anything right for him, then we argue before bed almost every night. Our road to the wedding is a battlefield because his mom thinks I’m spoiled, my mom is begging me to postpone the wedding. I felt like at this point we needed an outsider’s perspective who is not our families to see if we can fix things. We signed on for 6 sessions of premarital therapy with Laressa now were on session 3. Its helping us already at least to stop fighting before bed. I’m trying to see his point that I disrespect him when I interrupt a lot. He's trying to see my side that I need him to still be romantic with me and be the man I fell in love with. He’s being nicer to me since we have have an agreement on how to communicate better so we argue less. I am excited for more session. I like the way she makes us each feel safe about our points of view. She's not judgy at all but is teaching us to make things better so we're feeling some good that we found the right counselor for us." Clients ~~~ Chatsworth, CA “…Me and my girlfriend have been together about 4 years now. We are having a lot of arguments and disagreements lately I just want to work on getting us back happy because I really love this girl and am truly planning on being with her forever. I want to marry her for her birthday next year so we can start our new life together. We also have a 7 month old child together. After our daughter was born things got bad for us. No sex, fights such loud yelling that I don't want my daughter to see anymore. We used to be golden, I don't know why we can’t even talk without arguing now. My girlfriend makes me feel like the villain but I need us to be like we were with her not mad all the time. I wrote Dr Laressa about all this and we went in for premarital counseling 2 times a week at first then because of sitter issues we had to go every other week. Things are improving with my girlfriend. She says I understand her better. Her stress with the baby isn’t better yet but I’m hoping. She made me write this review because she needs me to do more to help out. Other things are improving though. We’re glad to get help.” Clients ~~~ Woodland Hills, CA “...We contacted this therapist looking for an emergency session. We got into a really bad fight about the wedding plans, honestly the worst ever. She had a special package for our situation. Helped me with an anger issues & we came back for work on our communication with some sessions. Too much wedding stress! So far it’s helpful. We found value here.” Clients ~~~ Calabasas, CA “...We're recently engaged. My fiancé & I have both had good experiences in therapy so I'm on board for some counseling. Our first meeting with good, she's warm, caring, knowledgeable about the stuff we’re going through. My challenge is my work schedule so sessions are hard for me but she is willing to work with that, seeing us on Sundays, so far so good. She also does evening sessions and has stayed late to see us at times. We feel good about this therapy experience so we both definitely recommend her for relationship improvement and also for communication.” Clients ~~~ Santa Monica, CA

Welcome. I'm glad you're here. I'm a Jungian analyst and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC 35445) with over 25 years of experience helping individuals and couples navigate life’s complexities, deepen self-understanding, and create more meaningful, connected lives. My private practice is based in Valley Village, California, where I offer a grounded, compassionate space for growth, insight, and healing. My approach is practical, intuitive, and deeply collaborative. I integrate traditional psychotherapy with Jungian analysis, active imagination, and dreamwork—offering both insight and concrete tools. Clients often describe me as warm, thoughtful, and engaged. I listen closely—to what is said and what remains unspoken—and help you find clarity and strength from within. In addition to my private practice, I teach workshops on dream interpretation and personal growth, supervise clinicians, and serve as a training analyst. I'm a past president of the C.G. Jung Study Center of Southern California, and I continue to be involved in training and mentoring the next generation of depth-oriented therapists.

Unhappy with yourself and the way life is unfolding? Relationships not what you want them to be? Anxious? Angry? Increase esteem, improve your relationships and feel better now. We go through our lives with stories that shape who we are and how we see ourselves in the world. These stories and ideas can limit our identities preventing us from expressing our true, evolving natures and realizing our potentials. I collaborate with individuals and couples by providing a safe and introspective environment to examine and bring forward their own stories while exploring new perspectives that support and encourage positivity and confidence.

I want to help you understand, heal, move on, take back your power and lead a life that is worth celebrating. While the past can not be changed, you do have control over your choices now. I don't believe in telling you what to do; I help you think through and evaluate what is best for you. Let's work together to better understand behavior patterns or perceptions that may be holding you back from experiencing a more peaceful, fulfilling and meaningful life. If you're looking for support and guidance through a challenging situation or you're just ready to move in a new direction in your life, I look forward to working with you to achieve your goals.