About Me
Welcome! I’m Tessa. I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in California who specializes in eating disorders and body image healing. As someone who is personally recovered, I deeply understand how overwhelming this journey can feel — and I also know firsthand that healing is absolutely possible.
Before opening my private practice, I spent 5 years supporting clients as a Clinical Director at a leading eating disorder treatment center in Southern California. I have worked at all levels of care in eating disorder treatment. My work is grounded in compassion, curiosity, and helping you reconnect with yourself in ways that feel doable and deeply supportive.
I also work with trauma, anxiety and mood disorders, OCD, women’s issues, and life transitions. I draw from approaches like Internal Family Systems (IFS), CBT, DBT, and somatic therapy, but most importantly, I tailor therapy to you. My goal is to help you feel understood, less alone, and more connected to the parts of yourself that are ready for change.
About My Practice
My practice is completely virtual at this time, allowing clients to do therapy from the comfort of their own homes. I work with California residents, as I am licensed in California. Sessions are 45-minutes or 55-minutes in length. I work alongside you to address not just the food stuff, but the many intersections of struggles that perpetuate, feed, and fuel disordered eating behaviors and negative body image. Because food is never the whole story, we gently uncover the pain, beliefs, and experiences beneath it that need healing.
About My Clients
My clients tend to be smart, self-aware, and deeply caring, and are often the ones others rely on. On the outside they can sometimes seem “fine,” but inside they feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck in patterns they can’t think their way out of.
They might struggle with:
Disordered eating or constant food/body thoughts
Negative body image
Anxiety, depression, or emotional numbness
Perfectionism, people-pleasing, or never feeling “enough”
Trauma, shame, or old pain still living in the body
A sense of losing themselves, or never fully knowing who they are
Maintaining balance and health during life transitions