Therapists for college students near 92093
Hola, Hello, thank you for reaching out and taking the time to see what NHFCC is all about. We are a group practice located in Downey, Santa Ana, and virtually in all of CALIFORNIA. We understand that therapy or coaching is a unique experience. We are here to support you in your journey.
Kate Rifkin, LMHC (pronouns she/her/hers) offers individual mental health counseling sessions for adults (18+) to provide a safe space where folks are able to freely explore their thoughts, feelings, concerns, and goals in a non-judgmental space. She takes an individualized, holistic, and integrative approach to therapy, that draws upon cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, and multicultural-based therapies. Kate has expertise and interest in working with athletes, young professionals, college students, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Welcome! I’m glad you are here. Are you struggling with worries, fears, relationships? Is stress keeping you awake at night, difficulty concentrating and getting stuff done--or maybe just wondering what is the point of it all? You want to feel happy and enjoy life, but issues with your self-esteem make it hard to feel secure. You want to be more successful in managing where to control and when to let go, but feel held back with anxiety, depression, and stress. If you feel out of balance, down, dealing with life craziness, or bad relationship cycles – I’m here for you. With over 24 years experience, I can help you feel better and make better choices. You are not alone. Using therapy tailored specifically to you, you can learn skills to set better boundaries, manage anxiety and panic, and quickly rebound from negative cycles. My style is warm, honest, and interactive. I value getting to know you and supporting you through all the stages in your life. I'm a licensed long time therapist in private practice and I have taught many college psych classes. I'm also a mom of 2 teens and a little ShihTzu dog.
Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.
Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.
I once heard someone doing a lecture say, “we know what we believe when we hear what we say.” This would definitely inform the kind of therapy you would experience with me. I view the client as the one who has the answers, and we’re working together to solve a mystery. One of my roles is to help my client tell the story, point out clues being overlooked, gently challenge entrenched beliefs, provide unconditional positive regard, and help the client make sense of their difficulties and their world. Our work together would be collaborative. I’m not a “sit, nod, and take notes” therapist. I’m interactive, and socratic, and relational. I view thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from a lens of curiosity; wondering what beliefs are behind them; helping to root out dynamics that help those things persist. Often we are stuck in a distorted comfort in familiar pain and we simply cannot see it without someone reflecting that in the room. I am an integrative (drawing from multiple therapeutic orientations) humanist-existential therapist; an enthusiastic cheerleader. I will bring humor and validation into the session. I’m passionate about brain chemistry. I am social-justice oriented. I am also trauma-informed. While I work in many different focuses of psychotherapy, I find that the most pervasive themes in my work with clients include: adjustment to life changes, problems with alcohol and substance use (and the way that co-occurring mental health issues interact with it), LGBTQIA+ topics, issues of neurodiversity, anxiety and depression, personality disorders, identity & esteem development, and healthy relationships of all shapes and sizes. I am experienced, both professionally and personally, working with a variety of relationship configurations and am highly comfortable talking about issues of sex positivity and non-standard definitions of families and relationships such as polyamory and non-monogamy. I am a licensed therapist, an addiction professional, a bit of a technology geek, and a fellow traveler in recovery. In addition to those things, I am Compliance Officer at an all women’s addiction treatment center where I’ve worked in various capacities ranging from counselor to director since 2010. I have also been an adjunct professor in the Master’s program at Pacific Oaks College, an adjunct professor for Glendale College’s Drug Studies program, and I served on the board of the California Association for Drug/Alcohol Educators (CAADE). I am a member of CAMFT at both the state level and in the San Gabriel Valley chapter.
Feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure of who you really are? College can be exciting—but it can also feel like too much. Maybe you’ve always been the one who holds it all together, gets straight A’s, and never lets anyone see you struggle. But now, you're anxious all the time, you're exhausted from trying to be “on” 24/7, and even small things feel like a big deal. You might feel pressure to meet expectations—yours or your family’s—and you’re starting to wonder if any of it really feels like you. Maybe you feel like you’re constantly performing. Like you can’t ever fully relax. Or maybe you’re starting to ask big questions about your identity, your future, your values—and it’s scary to realize you don’t have all the answers yet. You don’t have to figure it out alone. I work with college students who are high achievers, perfectionists, and deep thinkers—especially those who are struggling with anxiety, depression, people-pleasing, burnout, or questions around identity and family dynamics. In therapy, you can slow down, breathe, and start untangling the pressure from what you really want. We’ll work together to help you feel more grounded, more like yourself, and more in control of your life. Sessions are confidential, affirming, and tailored to who you are—not who others expect you to be. I provide inclusive and affirming care and create a space where you don’t have to explain or defend your experiences. Online sessions available for students in CA & WA. In-person sessions available in Santa Monica, CA. If this sounds like what you need, reach out. Things can be different—and therapy is a good place to start.
https://care.headway.co/providers/alejandra-arias?utm_source=pem&utm_medium=direct_link&utm_campaign=195190
At New Wave Youth and Family Therapy Services, we provide affordable, trauma-focused mental health care to children, adolescents, and families. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we combine evidence-based therapies with compassionate, culturally inclusive care to make healing accessible for all. With in-person and telehealth services, we're building a healthier, more resilient community—one individual and family at a time.
College can be exciting, but it can also be overwhelming at times. Many students struggle with stress, depression, anxiety, or relationship challenges while trying to balance school, work, and personal life. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own. I offer a supportive and non-judgmental space where you can talk openly about what’s going on and feel heard. Together, we can work on practical strategies to help you manage stress, improve relationships, and feel more confident navigating this stage of your life. Reaching out for support can be a powerful first step toward feeling better.
Do you feel lost in your relationship and longing for interpersonal connections? Take a pause and talk to a relationship & art therapist who can help you to regain your inner strengths to overcome relationship struggles, improve social skills, and have a better relationship with yourself, family, and friends. With my art therapy specialty, attentive listening, and culturally sensitive approach, you can find ease in our therapy sessions. Regardless of your age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and background, I am here to support you to reach your goals. If you love talking, we can talk; if you don't, we can create art, and let the art talk for us.
I support students who are experiencing stress, both academically and interpersonally. I recognize the layers of pressure that may be coming from family, peers, and yourself. School can be a challenging environment and finding support is not always easy. I provide a space to be heard and for you to process anything that's on your mind. I am warm and nonjudgmental.
Having had the pleasure of working with college students at Santa Clara University, SJSU, and UCLA, I help people feel better by addressing the specific concerns that bring them to therapy. I aim to listen carefully and offer a safe space to explore what’s on your mind, with the goal of helping you get what you want from therapy and feel more like yourself again. My work often focuses on relieving emotional distress, deepening connection to one’s feelings, gaining insight into recurring challenges, and fostering a greater sense of self-alignment and vitality. I've had the opportunity to help folks address many challenges in therapy from anxiety, depression, loss, and relationship challenges to questions about one's identity, life transitions, and processing difficult experiences from childhood. This approach to therapy is called psychodynamic. In my approach, I incorporate many principles from AEDP and have also been trained in other modalities such as CBT, ACT, and DBT. I sometimes draw from these modalities when someone may want to develop coping skills to deal with life’s ups and downs as they work towards their goals for therapy. I also welcome people to bring up issues of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, pertinent political issues as well as any other aspects of their culture or themselves they wish to share, explore, or better understand in therapy.
I conduct psychoeducational evaluations to assess children and adults for Learning Disabilities including Dyslexia, Attention/ADHD, Executive Functioning, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Giftedness, Depression, Anxiety, and other educationally relevant mental health concerns. Comprehensive evaluations may include assessing a student's cognitive functioning, processing abilities, academic achievement, social/emotional functioning, and/or adaptive behavior. Psychoeducational evaluations for adults are conducted on those who may need support within higher education, in the workplace or to seek employment, and with high-stakes professional exams. Comprehensive evaluations allow us to identify needs and areas of concern, as well as highlight areas of strength. They allow us to best determine a student's learning profile and what supports they may need to access their education, which is why assessment is a crucial first step. Please reach out for your assessment and consultation needs.
I’m passionate about promoting growth. I’m excited to work with you and support you on your journey to self-healing and personal development. My goal is to create a safe space where everyone feels seen, heard, and in a non-judgmental environment. I understand how hard that first step can be, and I would love to walk this journey with you.
What inspired me to become a therapist is my belief that it’s never too late to make meaningful changes in life. My own path to becoming an LMFT began in my mid-30s, which gives me a personal understanding of how powerful growth and change can be at any stage. Since becoming licensed in 2010, I’ve enjoyed supporting people through challenges such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, life transitions, LGBTQIA+ concerns, and women’s issues. In our work together, my goal is to help you feel heard, understood, and supported. I believe you are the expert on your own life, and I work collaboratively with you to explore what’s getting in the way of the life you want. I often use tools from Solution-Focused Therapy, mindfulness, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you gain insight, build skills, and feel empowered to make changes. Building trust is an important part of the process. In the first few sessions, I focus on getting to know you, answering any questions you have about therapy, and creating a safe, supportive space where you can speak openly. Seeking therapy takes courage, and my goal is to create a respectful and collaborative environment where we can work together toward your goals. A lighthearted detail I sometimes share is that I really enjoy all forms of entertainment, especially movies, TV, listening to music and going to live music events. It helps me recharge and stay grounded, and it’s something that often resonates with people who are also looking for ways to care for their well-being.
If you feel everything deeply, have been called “too sensitive,” or your mind never seems to turn off, you’re in the right place. You may have spent so much time understanding others and making sense of the world around you, but rarely feel that same care or depth of understanding reflected back to you. As a Highly Sensitive Person, I understand what it's like to experience the world this way. Our work will focus on helping you untangle what’s going on beneath the surface so you can better understand your emotions, trust your instincts, and move through life with more self-trust and clarity. I specialize in Highly Sensitive People, children, Gen Z (teens & young adults), and neurodivergence/ADHD. Together, we’ll explore patterns, past experiences, and the emotional landscape shaping your life. My approach is warm, deeply attuned, and insight-oriented, grounded in a strengths-based, emotionally-focused, and attachment-aware approach. Clients often say I have “big sister energy”: I notice what’s unspoken, help make sense of complicated emotions, and always have your back. If you’re looking for a therapist who understands your depth and can help you turn your sensitivity into a strength, I would be honored to support you. Book a consultation through my website today.
I became a therapist because I saw the impacts it can have on people to not have a space to feel safe and seen. Life can come with challenges that set us off course, and it can feel isolating to experience those challenges without a roadmap. My hope is to provide a space to navigate life’s challenges safely, and develop a tool kit to manage whatever life may throw your way. Our work together is ultimately a collaboration, we discuss your values and needs and will create goals that align with them. I encourage ongoing feedback during sessions, discussion of what is working and not working, and make sure to provide a space where your needs come first. I acknowledge that it takes time to build trust in any relationship, including a therapeutic relationship. I build trust by focusing on you as a whole person, letting you set the pace and meeting you where you are at. I want to get to know your strengths, interests, and values. I utilize metaphors and examples that break down issues that feel bigger than you can handle to create a sense of safety in our sessions. I have two cats who you may see glimpses of during our sessions, whether it be through a blob stretching in my background or their tail popping in to the frame.
We support college and graduate students navigating stress, anxiety, mood concerns, burnout, and major life transitions. Our clinician-led team offers compassionate, evidence-based mental health care in a collaborative and nonjudgmental space, helping students build coping skills, resilience, and confidence as they balance academics, relationships, and personal growth.