Counseling in Los Angeles
For Adults and Couples Who Want to Feel Like Themselves Again
Everything is feeling like too much.
You’ve got a lot of anxiety about how your life is going, how to it feels to be you, day in and day out. And it just keeps growing as you start to create new worries out of old ones.
Add to that the pressure you feel as you’re still shaped by your family expectations. It’s not something you talk about but it is always there hovering in the background. So you turn to work to give you purpose and something you can do well but that drains you more than it fulfills.
The stress builds and then you get home only to have the same fight with your partner. It’s a pattern you both are stuck in and can’t get out of, no matter how often you try.
You’ve been talking with friends, searching online, and reading self-help books. Nothing is changing and you still feel this unease in your body as patterns repeat at everywhere you look. You're tired of the negative loop in your thoughts and in your relationships. The pressures of work, family, and everyday life are piling up, and you need a space to finally make sense of it and change course.
Hi, I’m Grace Ou, LMFT.
Grace Ou, LMFT | MS Marital and Family Therapy | Certified Havening Practitioner | Certified Level 2 Restoration Therapy Therapist | Certified Prepare/Enrich
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles (MFC#107667). With over 11 years of experience, I help adults and couples who are triggered and overwhelmed. In individual and couples therapy I use the Restoration Therapy model. I help you identify recurring cycles you keep getting stuck in and find out what is actually driving them underneath the surface so that the triggered anxious places become a place of calm and peace.
Imagine not having to second guess and doubt yourself. I’m here to help you feel more empowered and make choices from a place of peace and truth instead of anxiety. This can look like taking yourself less seriously, learning how to cultivate self compassion and kindness, and letting go of the anxiety that holds you back.
Clients who have worked with me say they feel more free, more open, and more engaged with themselves and those around them. They feel refreshed and no longer tied down by the worries that have plagued their minds for so long.
What to Expect When We Work Together
There are a handful of approaches that I like to use during our work together. As a Level 2 Restoration Therapy therapist, I help you shift your mindset and your actions that keep you living in a place of pain to a place of peace. This looks like identifying unhelpful patterns and behaviors and rediscovering truth that can serve as the anchor point for new ways of acting to occur when in relationships with others and yourself.
As a certified Havening Techniques practitioner, I help you use gentle touch on your palms, arms or face. We apply this touch as we talk together and work through therapist guided exercises. This may sound unusual, but most clients find this soothing and calming. In using these scientifically-backed techniques, I help clients decrease anxiety and trauma symptoms.
As a certified Prepare and Enrich practitioner, I help for couples seeking premarital counseling and already established couples assess and review important aspects of their relationship. This assessment addresses several areas of relationships including communication, conflict resolution, money, sex, family/friends, personality, relationship roles, faith/ spirituality, and stress. After taking the assessment, I help clients translate their results into practical, take home applications.
Contact me for a free counseling consultation
Let's talk about what's bringing you to counseling in Los Angeles and whether working together feels like a good fit. To schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation click here: Schedule a Consult. My specialities include working with anxiety, couples, Asian Americans, and Christian counseling. Let’s get you moving from that stuck place to living in free and new ways!
Online and remote options
My office is located in the San Gabriel Valley serving the greater Los Angeles area — including Arcadia, Pasadena, Alhambra, and Monrovia — through a fully virtual practice. This means you get the same quality of care whether you're in San Marino or La Cañada.
My online services are also offered for those residing anywhere in the state of California. All sessions are held via a HIPAA-compliant video platform. Your information is never sold or shared.
Let's talk about what's bringing you to counseling in Los Angeles and whether working together feels like a good fit. To schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation click below.
Frequently Asked Questions About Counseling in Los Angeles
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I offer counseling in Los Angeles to adults and couples online, so you can connect from anywhere in the state. My practice centers on anxiety, cultural identity, and relationship concerns. If you're unsure whether it's the right fit, a free consultation is a great place to start. During our call, we get to decide if you think I’d be a good fit in connecting with and working with you. There is no pressure to book a session after our initial call. And if we do meet and I think you’d be better served by someone who specializes in a different area, I’ll tell you directly and help you find that person.
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All of my sessions are held online, which means you can access care from your home, your car, or anywhere private and comfortable. I find that many clients actually open up more easily this way. As long as you're located in California, we can work together without any commute. All sessions are held via a HIPAA-compliant video platform. Your information is never sold or shared.
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The first few minutes of an initial session, we check in together about housekeeping items of how therapy works. Then I spend time hearing about what brought you to therapy and how you’re hoping our time will help you. This is where we can get really clear about what your goals are. I may share a little bit of a plan for how I think we can tackle your goals (usually from a Restoration Therapy approach or with Havening Techniques). If there is still time, I’ll be asking a lot more questions about the context of what’s going on and learning about your life and what has shaped you. Most clients say they feel better after releasing their story and sharing about what has been going on in their lives even though we haven’t “fixed” anything.
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I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, MFC#107667 who is a Certified Level 2 Restoration Therapist and a Certified Havening Practitioner. In Restoration Therapy, we look at the underlying messages driving your anxiety and practice replacing them with strong and stable truths that can help you choose to turn away from the anxiety. As a Certified Havening Practitioner, I use neuroscience-informed techniques that help calm the nervous system and work with the brain’s encoding of distressing memories, which is what's underneath the worry.
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Yes, this is a meaningful part of my practice. I work with adults who identify as Asian or Asian American and understand firsthand how cultural expectations, family dynamics, and identity can shape emotional wellbeing. I find that clients often share about their family background and the challenges of those family relationships. Many clients appreciate that my own Asian American identity is helpful because I automatically can understand the nuances and cultural norms in their family stories. My approach is culturally sensitive, and I welcome clients who want a therapist who gets that context without needing a long explanation.
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Absolutely. I work with Christian clients and am comfortable integrating faith as part of the therapeutic conversation when that feels meaningful to you. You don't have to set your beliefs aside when we talk. My goal is to meet you where you are, including the values and community that matter most to your sense of self and healing.
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If something feels stuck, whether it's anxiety, a relationship pattern, or just a quiet sense that things could be better, that's often enough reason to reach out. You don't need to be in crisis to benefit from counseling. I offer a free consultation so we can talk through what's going on and decide together whether moving forward makes sense.
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My rate for a 45 minute therapy session is $200. I’m happy to discuss fees and availability during a free consultation call before you commit to anything.