About Christian
Christian Maciel is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of clinical experience. He works with people who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to move forward.
Background and approach
He speaks English and Spanish and practices in California. Christian focuses on common, painful problems like anxiety, depression, stress, and the effects of trauma and abuse.
He also helps people dealing with relationship strain, low self-esteem, and struggles around abandonment or attachment. Sessions aim to be straightforward and practical.
In sessions he uses a mix of approaches to match each person’s needs. That can include acceptance and commitment strategies to clarify values, cognitive techniques to change unhelpful thoughts, and attachment-based work to understand relationship patterns.
He uses tools from dialectical behavior therapy and client-centered methods when they fit a person's goals. Clients can expect a calm space to talk through what’s happening and try new ways of coping.
Christian emphasizes skills practice and real-life steps between sessions. He encourages small experiments that build confidence and reduce symptoms over time.
Over his career he has worked with many kinds of concerns, including codependency, communication problems, caregiver stress, chronic illness, and grief after separation. His style blends practical problem solving with attention to personal history and relationships.
He aims to help people find steadier footing and clearer direction.
How therapy approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people get clearer about what matters to them and take small actions that match those values. It is often useful for anxiety, depression, and feeling stuck when avoidance is keeping life small.Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early and current relationships shape feelings and behavior. It can help people understand patterns in close relationships and find different ways to connect and trust.
Finding the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, try methods that suit their situation, and adjust the plan over time. Sessions are collaborative and focus on what helps most in daily life.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is good for a full conversation and practicing skills together. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth or camera use is an issue. Live chat or text messaging work well for shorter check-ins, quick problem-solving, and flexible support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, caregiving, or medical schedules.
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Systemic Therapy
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English, Spanish