Lena Firestone is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) based in Santa Barbara, California. Lena believes that psychotherapy offers individuals a unique opportunity to understand and heal destructive relationship dynamics, unresolved trauma, negative core beliefs, intergenerational patterns, and painful or inadequate attachment experiences. Lena works with individuals, adolescents, and couples, specializing in relationship problems, parenting challenges, depression, and low self-esteem. Lena is passionate about working with parents, believing that parents (as well as their children) benefit tremendously from learning how to practice self-compassion and attend to the unique challenges of a child’s developmental phase, which often trigger echoes of unresolved pain from the parent’s own childhood.

Lena holds a Master of Arts from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology. Prior to training as a psychotherapist, Lena received a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the University of Santa Barbara and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of California Irvine. Her therapeutic approach is creative and integrative, attuning each session to the strengths and needs of each client or couple. Drawing on insights from attachment theory and psychodynamic psychotherapy, she incorporates elements of relational, Jungian, archetypal, experiential, and emotion-focused therapy into her work. Lena has a calm, compassionate, and non-judgmental presence. Her goal is to create a secure environment wherein clients can feel safe and supported in openly exploring and attending to their pain.

Lena is currently accepting new clients to include teens, adults, couples and families.

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