Elizabeth Bravo

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience working with people navigating the lasting effects of trauma. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from San Diego State University and my Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California. I really enjoy working with women who are experiencing burnout in motherhood and/or the workplace, young adults who have recently graduated from college and are feeling lost during that transition, and women who tend to lose themselves in relationships — whether romantic, familial, professional, or platonic. Many of my clients tend to be highly sensitive, overthinkers, people pleasers, and deep feelers.

I am a depth-oriented therapist. That means I want to dive deep with you to create lasting change. I'm not the type of therapist to spend most of our time talking about coping strategies or doing worksheets, though I have been known to assign what I like to call "thinking homework" here and there. My clients appreciate my casual and playful nature, noting that it helps that I will share a bit about myself here and there to make the space more human and warm, like talking to an old friend. I love what I do, and clients often tell me they feel understood more quickly than they expected — so you can expect that I will be direct and hold accountability, but also pause and gently hold any emotions that come up for you with the greatest care and compassion.

Clients can expect a comprehensive interview focused on mental health history, current symptoms and reasons you are seeking therapy, relationships, health and lifestyle factors, and family dynamics. All of these things influence who we are as people and how we function.

I begin the session with housekeeping to ease our way in. During this process I create safety by explaining how I approach the trickiest things that can come up in therapy with full transparency. I want it to be really clear that this is a safe space designed to meet your needs and provide support. If you are brand new to therapy I take the first session pretty slow, do a lot of explaining about the therapeutic process, and talk through what the first few sessions will look like and what I need from you in terms of participation. I check in frequently and pause for questions and concerns. After we take care of those pieces we move into the in depth interview.

It is important to me to get to know my clients deeply so I can best support your needs.

The first session can always feel a little anxiety provoking and sometimes even intense depending on what's going on for you or how you grew up. But I always want to make sure my clients leave feeling seen, heard, and understood — with a clear sense of what we will be discussing in the sessions to come. My goal is that you leave feeling a little hopeful and relieved.