Helen Hovsepian, LMFT

Helen Hovsepian is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of experience. She helps people who feel stuck or overwhelmed take a first step toward change. Her approach is warm and straightforward, and she aims to build trust so clients can share thoughts and feelings without judgment.

Helen focuses on common struggles like stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and reactions to trauma and abuse. She also supports people facing addictions, relationship strain, low self-esteem, or big life transitions. Additional focus areas include guilt and shame, life purpose, and post-traumatic stress.

Therapy sessions are collaborative. Helen listens first, then helps clients identify practical steps they can try. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to spot unhelpful thinking and try new behaviors, and uses client-centered and psychodynamic ideas to understand how past experiences shape today.

Sessions can include solution-focused strategies to set short-term goals and somatic techniques to notice how the body holds stress. Helen explains techniques plainly and checks in about what is and isn’t helpful. Progress is paced to each person's comfort and readiness.

Helen offers services in California and works with Spanish-speaking clients as well. She accepts international clients and uses video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so people can choose a format that fits their life. To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule sessions based on therapist availability.

How Helen Uses Talk Therapy Online

Helen blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered methods to guide online work. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors, which can help with anxiety, depression, and stress. Client-centered work emphasizes listening, empathy, and letting clients set the pace so they feel understood and respected.

Finding the right approach is a joint effort. Helen will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they decide whether to use practical CBT exercises, open-ended reflection, short-term solution-focused steps, or gentle body-centered techniques to manage symptoms.

Online formats make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when visual cues matter. Phone sessions are helpful when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging work well for brief updates, reflective journaling between sessions, or when written conversation feels more comfortable. These options give flexibility while keeping the focus on steady progress.