

Managing OCD symptoms like checking behaviors, handwashing rituals, or obsessions is possible with Headway's compassionate providers in Redondo Beach. Access evidence-based care with open availability, free intake calls, and the flexibility to meet virtually or in-person while keeping costs low through insurance.
Sometimes life can feel overwhelming. You may be struggling with anxiety, trauma, relationship difficulties, parenting challenges, grief, depression, or experiences from the past that continue to affect your present. Perhaps you find yourself reacting in ways that don't make sense, feeling disconnected from others, or carrying burdens that have followed you for years.
I believe that symptoms often make sense when we understand the story behind them.
For nearly 20 years, I have worked as a psychotherapist helping children, adolescents, adults, and families heal, strengthen relationships, and develop a deeper understanding of themselves. My experience includes working in private practice, schools, pediatric healthcare settings, and community mental health programs. I also taught graduate students in counseling and family therapy programs, helping train the next generation of therapists.
My path to becoming a therapist has been shaped by a deep belief in people's capacity for growth, healing, and resilience. I earned my Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of New Hampshire, and have worked with many diverse populations - from individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, trauma, anxiety, depression, disordered eating, and couples. I have worked with CBT, DBT, ACT, and CPT approaches as well as completing advanced training in both ABFT & EMDR.
I am currently accepting new clients. Great to meet you. If you have been carrying anxiety, depression, or that heavy feeling of not quite being like yourself, we can work through it together. I offer virtual therapy that meets you where you are, with care that feels compassionate, practical, and grounded in real life. My goal is to help you feel more like yourself again and build a path toward a brighter, more fulfilling tomorrow.
Feeling worried all the time? Feeling down or depressed? Dealing with negative thinking that wont go away? Having difficulties in your relationships? Struggling to maintain a balance between responsibilities and everyday challenges?
Let me help you! I will guide you to effectively manage anxiety, depression or elevated stress that may arise when dealing with past or present relationship issues, family conflict, divorce, separation, parenting difficulties, trauma, illness, loss, transitions or other life stressors.
I'm here for you! Don't tackle this alone; open yourself to professional help.
I'm Matt Darst, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker trained at the University of Southern California, with advanced training in military and veteran clinical social work. I work with adults who are motivated to change but feel stuck — navigating trauma, addiction, mood disorders, OCD, grief, or the kind of cumulative pressure that quietly builds until something gives.
My clients tend to be high-functioning people who look fine from the outside but are carrying more than they let on. That includes professionals managing stress and burnout, veterans and first responders, and anyone who's ready to do honest, purposeful work — regardless of background or title.
I bring a direct, warm style grounded in kind accountability. I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear. I'm here to help you move.
Hello, I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in California. I am a Latina woman. I earned my Bachelor's in Science with a minor in Law & Society at Cal State Los Angeles in 2007 and my Master of Social Work (MSW) at Cal State Long Beach. I have worked in social services for over 22 years and in mental health services for over 13 years. I am a therapist who believes sympathy, support, and individualized services are important to help through the challenges in life.
My work is grounded in behavioral therapy, and a firm belief that people can change. I prefer a flexible and collaborative approach that evolves as we work together. Though the foundation of my work is behavioral, I develop integrated treatment plans for each new client, drawing on other evidence-based modalities and new research.


Headway helps you manage obsessive-compulsive disorder with expert-guided support — from finding the right therapist or psychiatrist, to understanding costs, to scheduling with ease.
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