(424) 248-9114
About Daniela
LCSW, Licensed Clinical Therapist
I went to both UCLA and USC for my undergraduate degree with a major in communications and a minor in business and psychology. After receiving my Masters degree in organizational Social Work from USC (MSW), I worked at NBC where I developed their first sexual harassment policy and conducted awareness trainings (btw not surprisingly they didn’t use it) as well as a substance abuse program. I also created and facilitated workshops dealing with stress and anxiety in the workplace. Wanting a change from the limitations of corporate structure, I went on to work with families and single mothers at a non profit agency while continuing to grow a private practice. Born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and having grown up in West L.A in a multicultural family, I was drawn to working with families experiencing a cultural gap between first generation kids and their own immigrant parents. These experiences combined with my personal background ignited my passion to help clients to tap into their their own unique diverse strengths and guide them to empower themselves. I have worked with individuals, parents,families and teens going through difficult life changes; including issues around parent teen conflict, sex and sexuality, and partners and families affected by betrayal, sex addiction, and divorce. In my 25+ years of clinical experience, I recognized a need to create an innovative short term model to give parents the tools to talk to their kids about divorce, betrayal and addiction in the family. The success of my model has helped many parents navigate through the most difficult times while providing positive outcomes in parent/child relationships and emotional health of the child and family.
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I continue to conduct presentations during this Covid pandemic through Zoom. Some more recent topics include: Understanding and helping your child/teen through Covid-19, Helping teens process their feelings about protests and family cultural beliefs of racism and anti-racism; Porn, sexuality, social media and your kids, The impact of porn & social media on childhood sexual development and Empowering Women through difficult transition.
Empowerment is you showing up for you...
First!
My Approach
I can help you get out of stuck...
by guiding you to find your personal strength through painful transitions and times of crisis. Through empathic support and with hands on tools, I will help you take the first baby steps forward from crisis to empowerment.
Having personally experienced many challenging transitions, I began to really take a look at the research around what drives self-fulfillment and successful transformations through times of pain and crisis. I wanted to make sure I adopted the most beneficial approach for me to live by, as well as for my clients, going through painful changes in their lives.
Although as a trained therapist I respect traditional psychotherapy and value the process of looking at past experiences and developing a greater understanding of self, I felt there was a hands on missing piece in supporting active steps towards positive change. That said, research shows it takes courage to be vulnerable enough to step outside our comfort zone and make a change. Regardless of the outcome, this move creates a sense of independence and confidence within us. I’m passionate about focusing on the way each of us uniquely finds courage and resiliency in the face of painful transitions and crisis. I will help you identify the first baby steps needed to take accountability and make room for positive change.