Ivan Belyaev

If anxiety, trauma, identity questions, or a relationship reaching its breaking point has brought you here, there's no pressure to have the right words. We'll figure it out together.

I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California working with adults navigating these exact challenges. I specialize in working with LGBTQ+ clients and Russian-speaking adults, and I offer sessions in both English and Russian. My style is direct and compassionate. We'll work to build real understanding of your patterns and what's driving them, not just tools for getting through the week.

Therapy with me is collaborative and insight-oriented. I don't hand you a checklist and call it growth. We look at what's underneath: relational patterns, early experiences, the stories you've been telling yourself.

I draw primarily from psychodynamic, attachment-based, and CBT frameworks, adapting to what makes sense for you. Some clients need structure and concrete tools. Others need space to process and be heard. Most need both. I believe therapy should make your actual life feel different, not just more manageable.

Your first session will be a calm, structured conversation. No surprises, no pressure to have everything figured out before you walk in. You'll walk me through what's bringing you to therapy, what's been hardest lately, and what you're hoping to get out of it. I'll ask questions to understand the full picture. By the end, we'll have a clear sense of where we're starting and what we're working toward. If you're nervous, that's completely normal. Most people leave the first session feeling a little lighter than when they arrived. I hope that's true for you.