Marissa Dean

Marissa Dean, LMFT, helps people facing eating and food-related struggles along with stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma. She practices in California and brings five years of clinical experience to each session. Marissa creates a calm, respectful space where clients can name what’s hard and start to make changes that fit their life.

Her approach is collaborative and down-to-earth. Sessions focus on understanding how feelings, habits, and body experience connect. She uses client-centered work to follow what matters most to each person and combines it with cognitive behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and patterns.

Marissa also weaves in mindfulness practices to help people sit with uncomfortable sensations and reduce reactivity. When early relationships and long-standing patterns are part of the struggle, she draws on psychodynamic ideas to trace how past experiences shape present choices. Practical tools from dialectical behavior therapy are used for emotion regulation and stronger coping skills.

She can include somatic ideas that pay attention to bodily signals linked to trauma or stress, and she can work with clients who want to integrate Christian beliefs into therapy if that is their preference. Marissa aims to help people reconnect with their values, improve self‑compassion, and build realistic plans for change.

People who choose Marissa often want steady, compassionate support while learning skills to manage cravings, sleep problems, self‑esteem, or relationship strain. She encourages questions and will match the pace to each person’s needs.

How Marissa’s Approaches Translate to Online Work

Client-centered therapy puts the person's goals first and focuses on listening, empathy, and collaboration. Online sessions let clients describe what matters most and set the pace for each conversation.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets the thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going. Delivered online, CBT often includes concrete homework and step-by-step skills people can practice between sessions to address eating patterns, anxiety, or sleep concerns.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers practical skills for managing intense emotions and improving interpersonal effectiveness. When used in teletherapy it emphasizes coaching around real-life moments, distress tolerance techniques, and skill rehearsal that people can try in their daily routines.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Marissa will collaborate with each person to pick methods that match their goals, comfort level, and daily life. She checks in regularly and adjusts strategies as needed so therapy stays useful and relevant.

Specific session formats are not listed here, so confirm available options before booking. Many people appreciate online sessions because they can fit therapy into a busy day, reduce travel time, and use shorter check-ins when needed. If someone prefers exercises, mindfulness practice, or behavioral assignments between meetings, those elements translate well to remote work.