Stephanie Lerma
Compassionate family-focused therapy
- Credentials
- LMFT
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed in
- California
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Format
- Online sessions
About Stephanie
Stephanie Lerma is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California. She focuses on family and parenting concerns as well as related issues like stress, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Sessions are offered in English and Spanish.
Her practice aims to be accessible for parents and caregivers juggling busy schedules. Stephanie uses straightforward, evidence-based techniques to help people manage day-to-day pressures and family tensions. She blends tools from cognitive behavioral approaches with skills training and a look at deeper relational patterns.
Background and approach
Therapy is practical and collaborative - she helps clients try new strategies and notice what works. Her background includes five years of clinical experience as a California LMFT. That experience has shaped a style that balances skill-building and understanding roots of problems.
She pays attention to how family dynamics, attachment, and past hurts show up in current struggles. In sessions she often focuses on communication, emotion regulation, and setting realistic goals. When family roles and parenting stress make life harder, she helps sort priorities and plan small, workable changes.
The work aims to reduce overwhelm and improve daily functioning. Stephanie welcomes people who want clear tools and a steady, respectful guide through difficult family moments. She supports parents and caregivers aiming to strengthen relationships and manage stress more effectively.
Practical approaches for families online
Stephanie commonly draws on cognitive behavioral techniques that help people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. This approach teaches concrete skills for managing anxiety, mood, and daily stress and is useful when families need practical tools.She also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills to build emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. These skills help with strong emotions, impulsivity, and improving communication with loved ones.
Finding the right approach is part of the process. Stephanie works together with each person to pick methods that match their goals, needs, and comfort level. That shared decision-making guides how sessions unfold and which tools are emphasized.
Online therapy offers flexibility for busy family life. Video calls let you work face-to-face without travel, phone sessions provide a simple option when screens are impractical, and live chat or text-based messaging can support short check-ins and follow-ups. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into parenting schedules and daily routines.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Parenting issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, Spanish
Next step
Talk to Stephanie
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