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LMFT

Sara Contreras, LMFT

  • Experience5 years
  • LocationCalifornia
  • Focus areasADHD, Stress and Anxiety, and Trauma and abuse
  • Therapy approachesAttachment-Based Therapy and Client-Centered Therapy
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Check the available next steps for working with Sara online.

About Sara

Sara Contreras is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) practicing in California who draws on attachment-focused and client-centered principles to guide her work.

Background and approach

With five years of clinical experience, she helps people navigate stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, and major life transitions while creating an accepting space for honest emotional exploration. Sara emphasizes collaborative care and uses evidence-informed tools such as cognitive behavioral techniques and EMDR to address persistent patterns and painful memories.

She brings attention to relationship and intimacy concerns as well as issues around ADHD, identity, grief, sleep, parenting, and career stress. Additional areas of focus include attachment wounds, codependency, body image, caregiving strain, chronic illness and pain, and diverse sexual cultures such as BDSM and kink.

Her practice aims to balance practical coping strategies with deeper relational work so clients can build resilience and clearer self-understanding. Sara offers flexible scheduling including some evenings and mornings, and works with clients via multiple online session formats.

She invites prospective clients to reach out, complete a brief intake, and coordinate appointments that fit their needs.

Approaches that guide online care

Attachment-Based Therapy centers on understanding how early relationship patterns influence current emotional reactions and close relationships, helping clients repair attachment wounds and build more stable connections. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathy, acceptance, and the client's own expertise about their life, creating space for exploration and self-directed growth. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) offers practical strategies to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can be useful for anxiety, depression, and stress management.

Sara treats finding the right method as a collaborative process. She will work with each person to consider symptoms, history, preferences, and goals, blending relational exploration with skill-based interventions when that combination better serves a client's needs. Together they decide which approaches to prioritize and how to adjust the plan over time.

Online therapy with Sara is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility and accessibility. These formats allow consistent work around busy schedules and provide options for different communication styles, making it easier to attend sessions from home or during a break in the day. The goal is to offer reliable ways to engage in therapy while tailoring the approach to what helps the client progress.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns does she commonly address?
Sara focuses on a broad range of issues including stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, coping with life changes, ADHD, relationship and intimacy concerns, grief, and compassion fatigue.
What is her general therapy style?
Her approach blends attachment-based and client-centered perspectives with practical techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR when appropriate, creating a collaborative and compassionate environment.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has five years of professional experience working with individuals on a range of emotional and relational concerns.
What are her credentials and where is she licensed?
She is an LMFT licensed in California with license number CA LMFT 139564 and conducts practice out of California.
In what language can sessions be conducted?
Sessions are provided in English and she is not accepting international clients at this time.
Which session formats are available?
Clients can meet with her through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging depending on preference and scheduling.
How is cost handled for ongoing sessions?
Costs vary with location and therapist availability; sessions are provided through a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What steps are needed to begin working together?
To start, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a session according to therapist availability.

Areas of expertise

Primary focus

Stress, AnxietyTrauma and abuseDepressionCoping with life changesADHD

Also works with

LGBTRelationship issuesFamily conflictsGriefIntimacy-related issuesSleeping disordersParenting issuesAnger managementSelf esteemCareer difficultiesBipolar disorderCompassion fatigue

Additional focus areas

AbandonmentAttachment issuesBDSM, kink, and alternative sex cultureBlended family issuesBody imageCaregiver issues and stressChronic pain, illness, and disabilityCodependencyCommitment issuesCommunication problemsControl issuesCoping with natural or human-caused disasterDependent personalityDisruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)DissociationDivorce and separationDomestic violenceEmptinessFamily of origin issuesFamily problemsFatherhood issuesFirst responder issuesForgivenessGuilt and shameImpulsivityInfidelityIsolation / lonelinessJealousyLife purposeMen's issuesMidlife crisisMoney and financial issuesMood disordersMulticultural concernsNarcissismObsessions, compulsions, and OCDPanic disorder and panic attacksPhobiasPolyamory / non-monogamous relationshipsPostpartum depressionPost-traumatic stressPregnancy and childbirthPrejudice and discriminationSeasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)Self-harmSelf-loveSexual assault and abuseSexual dysfunctionSexualitySocial anxiety and phobiaSomatizationWomen's issuesWorkplace issues

Therapeutic approaches

Attachment-Based TherapyClient-Centered TherapyCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Existential TherapyEye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)Mindfulness TherapyMotivational InterviewingNarrative TherapyPsychodynamic TherapySolution-Focused TherapySomatic TherapyTrauma-Focused Therapy

Experience

5+ years

Licensed

California

Languages

English