Annabel Thomson
Family-focused therapist who centers strengths
- Credentials
- LMFT
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed in
- California
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Annabel
Annabel Thomson is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 11 years of clinical experience. She focuses on family and parenting concerns alongside stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, and compassion fatigue. Annabel speaks plain language in sessions and aims to make the first steps into therapy feel manageable for worried parents.
Her style is collaborative and strengths-based. She treats each person as the expert of their own story and looks for existing strengths to build on.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on clear goals, practical steps, and learning new ways to handle difficult moments at home. Annabel often addresses relationship patterns such as attachment and codependency, as well as blended family issues and family of origin problems. She also supports people facing caregiver stress, chronic illness or disability, immigration-related concerns, and struggles with guilt, shame, or control.
She uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques and adapts methods to each family’s needs. Conversations are straightforward and focused on what matters most to daily life and parenting. Parents who want a therapist who listens, helps set realistic steps, and works together to reduce conflict and stress may find her approach helpful.
Annabel welcomes questions about how therapy could fit into a family's schedule and routine.
Approaches that translate well to online family work
Annabel uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that fit well into online sessions. One common approach focuses on identifying patterns in family interactions and teaching concrete skills for communication and conflict resolution. This helps families who struggle to talk without escalating or who want clearer parenting routines.A second approach centers on attachment-focused work, which looks at how early relationship patterns affect current family dynamics. In practice this means tracking feelings and reactions, then trying new ways to respond that build trust and connection within the family.
Finding the best approach is collaborative. She listens to each family’s goals, priorities, and day-to-day limits, then suggests methods that match those needs. The plan can be adjusted together as therapy progresses so the work stays useful and realistic.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility for busy families. Video calls let parents and other caregivers join from home, while phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging provide shorter check-ins and homework support between meetings. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into a family schedule and to practice new skills in real life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Annabel
- Takes a few minutes to look through
- Nothing to set up just to read
- Stop at any point