Katrina Balian

I’m Katrina Balian, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. I’m passionate about working with children and teens who may be struggling with anxiety, emotional overwhelm, self-esteem, friendship challenges, or simply feeling misunderstood or different from those around them. I strive to create a warm, supportive, and nonjudgmental space where young people can feel comfortable being themselves, better understand their emotions, build confidence, and develop skills to navigate challenges in their everyday lives.

My approach to therapy is warm, playful, collaborative, and tailored to each child or teen. I believe therapy doesn’t always have to feel serious or formal to be meaningful. Depending on their age and interests, sessions might include interactive games, animated educational clips, creative activities, or screen-sharing exercises that help make therapeutic concepts easier to understand and actually fun to practice. I also integrate CBT, DBT-informed skills, somatic tools, and EMDR-informed resourcing to help young clients understand their emotions, build coping skills, and feel more confident navigating everyday challenges. Most importantly, I want therapy to feel like a space where kids and teens can relax, be themselves, and feel genuinely understood.

The first session is all about getting comfortable and getting to know each other. I don’t expect kids or teens to walk in ready to share everything right away! We’ll spend time building rapport, talking about what brings them to therapy, and exploring what they’d like to get out of our time together. Depending on their age and comfort level, we might chat, play an interactive game, or use a fun activity to help break the ice. My goal is to create a relaxed, judgment-free space where young clients can be themselves, build trust at their own pace, and hopefully leave feeling like therapy isn’t quite as intimidating as they may have expected.