Mandana Ghalebi

I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in San Diego with over 15 years of experience across inpatient psychiatric, community behavioral health, and integrated medical settings. My work is grounded in a cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused approach; I help clients identify the thought patterns and behaviors keeping them stuck, and build practical, sustainable tools to move forward.

Much of my career has centered on crisis stabilization and high-acuity care, currently leading a rapid-response behavioral health team that serves individuals navigating serious mental illness in the community. That work has given me a deep respect for resilience, and a steady, non-judgmental presence when clients are in their hardest moments.

I work with individual adults facing anxiety, depression, life transitions, and the everyday weight of balancing work, relationships, and personal growth. My style is warm but direct; I'll collaborate with you to set clear goals and give you concrete strategies you can use between sessions, not just space to talk.

I'm bilingual in English and Farsi and bring a culturally attuned lens to my work, particularly with clients navigating identity, family expectations, or bicultural stress.

My approach is cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused. I believe therapy works best when it's active: we're not just talking about what's wrong, we're identifying the specific thought patterns and behaviors keeping you stuck, and building tools you can actually use between sessions. You'll leave most sessions with something concrete: a reframe to practice, a behavior to try, a pattern to watch for.

My style is warm but direct. Years of crisis and rapid-response work have made me comfortable sitting with people in genuinely hard moments, and I bring that same steadiness to everyday struggles. I won't rush you, but I also won't let sessions drift without a purpose. I like setting clear goals early and checking in on progress along the way, so therapy feels like it's actually moving somewhere.

I work primarily with individual adults on anxiety, depression, and life transitions, the kind of stuff that shows up as being stuck: stuck in a job, a relationship pattern, a cycle of overthinking, or a sense of "I know what I should do, I just can't seem to do it." That's the space where CBT tends to be most useful, and where I feel most useful too.

I'm also attentive to the cultural and family context clients bring into the room, especially for bilingual or bicultural clients navigating expectations that don't always line up with what they want for themselves.

Your first session with me is mostly about getting the full picture. I'll ask about what's bringing you in, but also about your history, your current life circumstances, and what's already been tried, so we're not starting from scratch or repeating approaches that haven't worked for you before. I want to understand not just the problem, but the context around it.

By the end of the first session, my goal is for you to feel heard, and to have a rough sense of where we're headed. I typically like to identify one or two concrete goals early on, even if they shift as we go, because I find therapy moves faster when there's something specific to work toward rather than an open-ended "let's see how it goes."

The environment I create is calm and direct. I'm not going to just nod along; I'll ask follow-up questions, offer observations, and sometimes gently challenge things if I think it's useful. Some clients need space to talk before we get to strategy, and I'm comfortable with that too. My goal in session one is mainly to earn your trust and make sure you leave feeling like this is a good fit, not to solve everything on day one.