My name is Anna Chen and I’m an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist here at The California OCD and Anxiety Treatment Center. I earned a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UC Davis. I completed my graduate internship at Richstone Family Center and Peace Over Violence. This gave me a broad spectrum of experience with helping children, teens, adolescents, adults, and couples navigate anxieties surrounding their relationships, parenting, and judgment from others, depression related to divorce and life changes, and trauma symptoms from adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence.
I utilize Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to structure sessions. I also approach therapy from a humanistic orientation and have a warm and compassionate style. I believe the simple act of non-judgemental listening is healing by itself, and appreciate the power doing something hard has to change our lives for the better.
OCD, anxiety, and depression can manifest in similar ways, I believe every person has a unique and interesting story. The key to growth is connection, trust, and risk. The first few sessions are and investment toward understanding you and building our relationship so we have a strong foundation from which future healing and change can happen. You can expect that I will listen to what you have to say, validate your feelings, and work with you to identify and influence the thoughts or beliefs that are causing pain and keeping you stuck. My clients share that they feel heard and understood in our sessions, and I consider being your therapist an honor and privilege. Simply put, I am passionate about helping you reach your goals.
Outside of therapy, I am most likely browsing Reddit, playing guitar, watching cat-related content, or reading sci-fi and fantasy books.
Anna Chen is a registered Associate with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (AMFT#133733, APCC#11999) and is under direct clinical supervision with Kevin Foss, MFT (LMFT #83193)