Steven Smith, LMFT

Steven Smith is a California LMFT - licensed marriage and family therapist - with ten years of clinical experience. He works with individuals and couples and helps with common concerns such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma and abuse, and anger. He also supports people facing relationship strain, grief, addiction, and parenting stress.

Steven writes that he uses a client-centered and existential approach. That means sessions start with the person's priorities and goals. He listens, reflects, and helps people name what matters to them. He does not aim to "fix" people or force change; instead he helps clients find clearer direction and manageable steps.

In practice he mixes practical conversation, reflective questions, and skill-building. He may draw on mindfulness techniques to reduce reactivity. He also uses elements of motivational interviewing to clarify motivation for change. For relationship concerns he references the Gottman Method to address communication and patterns between partners.

Sessions are conversational and goal-focused. People can expect straightforward feedback and encouragement to try new ways of responding. He pays attention to how routines, roles, and relationship habits shape feelings such as anger or resentment.

Steven has a bachelor's in psychology and a master's in clinical psychology. He has worked across diverse backgrounds and sexual orientations. His experience includes work with mood disorders, trauma-related symptoms, and addiction-related challenges, always centered on the client's own goals.

How his approaches work in online sessions