Maryam Ashraf, LCSW #118838

Life rarely goes as we expect or plan for it to. At times it can feel difficult or even impossible to navigate changes or deal with the pain and distress that life brings. Sometimes this looks like emotional pain, other times this pain may show up through somatic or physiological symptoms. And sometimes it looks like feeling hopelessly stuck; being unable to move forward. This may present as anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, grief, and loss, or feeling that you don’t have the right coping tools to deal with challenging life transitions.  

Though pain is part of the human experience, we are also incredibly resilient and have the ability to heal from this pain. I see therapy as the place to support you in getting unstuck and I would love to help you heal, grow, transform, and create a fulfilling life. Therapy can be an opportunity to get more support by taking a look at what’s no longer working and creating room for new possibilities to emerge.

My name is Maryam Ashraf, and I am an Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW #118838) working as a therapist in the state of California. I graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work from McMaster University and earned my Master of Social Work from York University in Toronto, Canada in 2014. Through my work in community mental health, non-profit organizations and substance use treatment, I have had the opportunity to gain valuable experience working with diverse populations. 

Specialties: 

I specialize in healing from low self-worth, attachment injuries, and relational trauma. Trauma recovery is a passion of mine and I consider it an honor to help others reconnect with their sense of self and inner resilience. I love to work with individuals, couples, and families to help highlight that resilience and restore hope. Above all, I strive to hold space and empathy for the life experience of the people that I work with. 

My goal is to provide safety and empathy while also challenging you so that we can move toward creating the life you really want to live. While providing therapy, my approach is compassionate, strength-based, and non-judgmental. My focus is on establishing safety and creating our therapeutic relationship which I believe is the foundation for building trust and allows for vulnerability to take place. Therapy then becomes a space to explore your inner world from a place of curiosity, allowing you to find better solutions and move closer to your goals.

Clinical Orientation and Therapeutic Modalities:

In my work, I use an integrative approach drawing from various evidence-based practices and trauma-informed modalities, tailoring them to suit your needs. These include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I additionally love to integrate Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Psychodynamic psychotherapy, and Attachment science. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on understanding the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Painful life experiences or trauma can change the way we think about ourselves, others and the world, often leading to difficulty forming and maintaining important relationships. In my work, I like to use CBT to help you identify unhelpful or distorted thinking patterns and learn better ways of coping by replacing these with more adaptive and healthier thinking. 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): DBT is a modality that focuses on teaching strategies to help people live more productive and fuller lives. DBT includes four core skills that help solve problems and cope with stress. These skills include mindfulness, interpersonal skills, emotion regulation and distress tolerance. In my work I like to use DBT to help you reduce suffering. By incorporating mindfulness, you can improve your ability to non-judgmentally observe yourself and your surroundings with the goal of becoming more present and aware of yourself and your feelings, thoughts and behaviors. I use distress tolerance and emotion regulation skills to help you recognize emotions and learn how to deal with, tolerate and even accept painful situations that you can’t change in order to move forward in life. 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is a trauma-informed modality that is used to treat symptoms of trauma and PTSD to help you process unresolved traumatic memories or stressful past experiences and release them. Sometimes memories associated with adverse life experiences remain unprocessed and these memories may be connected to negative cognitions and uncomfortable physical or somatic sensations that are experienced during the trauma. EMDR can be very helpful in reprocessing memories to help address symptoms of trauma including intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance of people or places, and fear. In my work I use EMDR to help you reduce the distress associated with these symptoms by reducing the “emotional charge” around them, by helping you transform  these negative beliefs that developed as a result of trauma and by replacing them with more adaptive beliefs. 

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT): EFT is a modality used in couples therapy that is rooted in attachment theory and aims to address relational distress and improve emotional attachment and bond. In my work with couples experiencing relationship problems, I like to use EFT to help you gain more awareness about your own emotional responses as well as those of the significant people in your life. My goal in using EFT is to help you create lasting and secure intimate bonds as well as to help you increase security, closeness and connection in your relationship. 

Internal Family System (IFS): IFS is an approach that works with clients to identify multiple sub-personalities (or what IFS calls families) within each person’s mind. IFS sees these parts as consisting of wounded parts and emotions including anger and shame as well as parts that try to control and protect someone from the pain of the wounded parts. In using IFS with clients, my goal is to help you identify these parts, recognize when they show up, and understand what needs are being met through them. When we are able to work together to heal these wounded parts and find healthier ways to meet our needs, we can find internal peace and harmony. 

Gottman Method: Gottman Method is a research-based modality used in couples therapy that can help with addressing a wide variety of relationship issues including frequent conflict as well as emotional distance. The Gottman Method can help people in any stage of a relationship in understanding their relationship better. In my work with clients, I like to use the Gottman Method to help you learn essential skills and actionable steps in the therapeutic space. My goal is to support you as a couple in the application of these skills and techniques in the session as well as outside of it so you can move away from former negative patterns.

I know it can be hard to imagine how therapy can change what is happening to you, but it can. As your therapist, I am devoted to empowering you to find the confidence, healing, and joy you deserve in your life. I am here to provide safety and walk with you through this journey. I believe finding the right therapist for you is so important.

I provide individual therapy sessions for 50 minutes/$150. I also provide couples and family therapy sessions for 50min/$170.

 I welcome your curiosity, so please do not hesitate to contact me for a free 20-minute consultation

 Phone: 323-362-6131

Email: Therapywithmaryam@gmail.com