Hi! I’m Mikaela

A young woman with dark hair, wearing a beige hoodie with red text, smiling, sitting at a wooden table in a cozy room with green plants and a framed artwork in the background.

LMFT. Doctor of Social Work. Human.

I’ve spent more than a decade working in mental health, from housing programs and mobile crisis teams to child welfare, crisis stabilization, and domestic violence shelters.

Along the way, I saw what happens when people get shuffled through systems, reduced to a diagnosis, or talked about more than they’re actually talked to.

Building Resilient Minds came from wanting to do things differently.

A place where you get to show up as a whole person. Not a diagnosis. Not a case. Not a problem to solve.

From Systems to Souls

Working in mental health systems taught me a lot about people. It also taught me what happens when the system becomes louder than the person sitting in front of you.

Today, I work with women navigating anxiety, burnout, and depression, adults living with schizophrenia and psychosis-related experiences, and families navigating mental illness and communication breakdowns.

A lot of the people who find me are the “strong ones.” The people everyone leans on, even when they’re exhausted, anxious, overwhelmed, or quietly shutting down.

Therapy with me is structured, but soft.

I listen intently, ask questions, notice patterns, and gently challenge you when there’s something worth looking at. Some sessions are reflective. Some are practical. Some are heavy. Sometimes we laugh at something that probably shouldn’t be funny, but somehow is.

You don’t have to explain everything perfectly. You don’t have to be in crisis. You don’t even have to know where to start.

You bring the human stuff. I’ll bring the therapy.

The Official Stuff

California LMFT

License #117931
10+ years in mental health

Doctor of Social Work

California Baptist University
2023

Marriage & Family Therapy

Latinx Studies
Pacific Oaks College
2017

BA Sociology

Minor in Applied Psychology
UC Santa Barbara
2014

Clinical experience and training: trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, psychosis support, family systems, crisis services, housing programs, child welfare, and domestic violence services.

Also, Me Outside the Therapy Room

Queer. Third Gen, Mexican-American. First Gen, Honduran-American. Creative. Oldest sister. Auntie. Almost-wife. Fur-baby mom. Runner. Only Daughter. Tattoo collector. Usually caffeinated, always hydrated.

Think We Might Click?

If something here made you think, “Okay, she might get me,” that’s a pretty good place to start.