Ariel Escobedo

I believe therapy works best when you feel genuinely heard, respected, and comfortable being yourself. My style is warm, collaborative, curious, and nonjudgmental. I’ll meet you where you are while also helping you look beneath the surface, recognize patterns, and develop new ways of relating to yourself and others.

With nearly 18 years of experience as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I work with adults navigating anxiety, trauma, stress, relationship and family concerns, grief and loss, self-esteem, men’s and women’s issues, gender-related concerns, cultural and identity experiences, and major life transitions. I provide therapy in English and Spanish and am licensed in California, Nevada, and New York.

My approach integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), mindfulness, evidence-based therapies, and culturally responsive and liberation-oriented perspectives. I recognize that our emotional experiences are shaped not only by what happens within us, but also by our families, relationships, culture, identity, gender, community, and the larger systems around us.

One of my strengths is adapting therapy to the individual rather than expecting the individual to fit a particular therapy model. Together, we can explore the parts of you that may feel anxious, overwhelmed, critical, protective, or stuck while also building on your strengths and resilience. I balance deeper emotional work with practical tools you can use in everyday life.

My goal is to help you better understand yourself, heal from difficult experiences, strengthen your relationships, and move toward a life that feels more authentic, connected, and meaningful.

My approach to therapy is warm, collaborative, and tailored to you. I integrate Internal Family Systems (IFS), mindfulness, evidence-based therapies, and culturally responsive and liberation-oriented approaches. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, we explore the experiences, relationships, family patterns, culture, identity, and environments that have shaped how you see yourself and relate to others.

I believe many of the patterns we struggle with developed for understandable reasons. Therapy can help us approach these patterns with curiosity rather than judgment, while creating space for healing and change. Depending on your needs, our work may include deeper emotional exploration, practical coping strategies, mindfulness, strengthening relationships, and developing greater self-compassion and awareness.

I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. We’ll work together to find what feels meaningful and useful to you, honoring your strengths, values, culture, identity, and lived experience while helping you move toward the life and relationships you want.

Your first session is an opportunity for us to get to know one another and begin understanding what brings you to therapy. We’ll talk about what has been happening in your life, what feels most important to you, and what you hope will be different as a result of our work together.

I know starting with a new therapist can feel vulnerable, so there is no expectation that you share everything at once. We’ll move at a pace that feels comfortable as we explore your concerns, strengths, relationships, cultural and life experiences, and the patterns you would like to understand better or change.

I’ll also explain how I work, answer your questions, and begin collaborating with you on therapy goals. I hope that you leave the first session feeling heard and understood, with a clearer sense of how we can work together and where we might begin, and feeling respected and comfortable with the direction of our work.