About Anke
Anke Kalaiah greets people who are feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 15 years of experience and practices in California.
Background and approach
She speaks English and German and knows how culture and life transitions can make stress worse. Anke focuses on practical steps people can take to feel steadier.
She helps with anxiety, depression, grief, addiction, relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting strain, and career stress. She also supports people facing trauma, domestic violence, and the challenges of blended families and co-parenting.
Her work blends common-sense approaches with specific skill building. Sessions often include identifying unhelpful thoughts, learning emotional regulation skills, and finding small behavior changes that make daily life easier.
She draws on client-centered listening so people set the pace and direction of their work. Anke trained in counseling psychology at Santa Clara University and holds a BA in German and social psychology from Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.
She has practiced in multiple clinical settings and has focused recent years on trauma, family conflict, divorce, and parenting problems. People who choose her often want straightforward tools, emotion regulation strategies, and a collaborative plan to handle stressors.
She describes her role as a guide who helps clients notice strengths, test new ways of coping, and practice skills between sessions.
Therapeutic approaches that translate well online
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and understanding a person’s priorities. The therapist follows the client’s lead, helping them decide what to work on and at what pace. This approach helps when someone needs a space to sort out priorities and feel heard.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, teaches how thoughts, feelings, and actions connect. Sessions often include simple exercises and practice tasks to try between meetings. CBT is helpful for anxiety, depression, and changing unhelpful habits.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, builds skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and better communication. It gives step-by-step tools people can use during strong emotional moments or conflicts.
Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, try techniques, and adjust the plan based on what helps most. This is a collaborative process where client feedback shapes the direction of therapy.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and shared visual cues. Phone sessions can be useful when internet is limited or someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging work for brief check-ins, coaching notes, or between-session support. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules, handle sudden stressors, and practice skills in everyday life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, German