About Ana
Ana Montenegro is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California with ten years of experience. She works with people who are stressed, anxious, or facing depression.
Background and approach
She also helps with self-esteem, career questions, relationship concerns, grief, and life transitions. Ana tends to use practical, goal-focused methods.
Sessions often include talking through current problems, learning skills to manage thoughts and feelings, and trying short exercises between meetings. She explains how treatment will proceed and checks in about what is working.
Her background includes work in outpatient settings and both in-person and online care. She has supported clients through parenting and blended family challenges, communication problems, and issues tied to family of origin.
She also addresses intimacy, body image, commitment worries, and feelings of emptiness or isolation. Ana draws on a few clear approaches, including cognitive behavioral and solution-focused ideas, and also brings psychodynamic perspectives when helpful.
She aims to meet people where they are and balance short-term goals with deeper exploration when needed. Sessions are offered in English and Spanish.
People can expect a respectful, nonjudgmental space where the therapist and client set targets together and work toward practical changes. Ana encourages active participation and offers coaching-style support when clients want it.
Approaches to Online Care and How They Help
Ana often uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people notice and change the thoughts that feed anxiety or low mood. That approach focuses on concrete skills and small experiments that can reduce symptoms and improve daily functioning.She also draws on solution-focused ideas to set short-term, achievable goals. Those conversations aim to identify what is already working and expand practical steps toward specific outcomes like better communication or improved routines.
Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will ask about needs, goals, and preferences and then recommend ways to proceed. That plan can shift over time as progress is made or new issues come up, and decisions are made collaboratively.
Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a good fit when bandwidth is limited or for brief check-ins. Live chat and messaging offer shorter, more frequent check-ins and can fit into busy schedules. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or parenting routines and provide flexible ways to practice new skills between meetings.
Frequently asked questions
What problems does Ana help with?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much experience does she have?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages are supported?
What session formats are available?
How is cost handled?
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, Spanish