About Cecilia
Cecilia Samartin is a licensed marriage and family therapist who helps people working through relationship strain, grief, parenting stress, low self-esteem, and big life transitions. She writes plainly and listens closely to understand what matters most to each person.
Background and approach
Her aim is to help people feel steadier and more able to move forward. Cecilia draws on two decades of clinical experience in California to guide practical change.
She uses client-centered and narrative ideas to help people tell a clearer story about themselves and their relationships. That often makes choices easier and reduces recurring conflict.
She also uses cognitive behavioral techniques to spot unhelpful thinking and try small experiments that can shift mood and behavior. Sessions include simple exercises a person can practice between meetings to build new habits.
Cecilia values honesty and direct feedback in sessions. She helps people name patterns that cause pain, then tests straightforward steps to change those patterns.
Her approach pairs careful listening with down-to-earth strategies so progress feels real and manageable. People who come to Cecilia for parenting or relationship concerns usually focus on better communication and clearer boundaries.
For grief and life changes she helps people find meaning and practical ways to carry on day-to-day responsibilities. Her work emphasizes steady, achievable steps rather than quick fixes.
How therapy methods translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening closely and following the person's priorities. In online sessions that means the therapist reflects concerns back and helps clients set goals that feel relevant to their daily life. Narrative Therapy helps people retell their stories so painful patterns become easier to change; online work often uses conversation and short exercises to rewrite how someone sees an event or relationship.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't helped before. Together they decide whether to prioritize skills-based tools, deeper story work, or a blend of both and adjust as progress unfolds.
Online formats offer practical benefits. Video calls provide face-to-face conversation and nonverbal cues. Phone sessions can be used when bandwidth is low or a camera feels like too much. Live chat and text-based messaging make it easier to check in between sessions or fit brief exchanges into a busy day. These options make scheduling more flexible and support steady progress without needing to travel to appointments.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Parenting issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English