Psychotherapist - San Fernando Valley, Burbank, CA

Michaela Tork, LMFT | Psychotherapist - San Fernando Valley

Professional Statement:

I help you get in touch with parts of yourself that have been operating unconsciously. With more awareness comes an understanding of what lies beneath depression, anxiety, addiction or a gnawing sense of unhappiness and discontent. By exploring your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, actions and experiences in an interactive inquiry you develop a heightened awareness of your internal states and the ability to recognize triggers to self-defeating beliefs or distressing behaviors. Bringing awareness to unconscious triggers and responses provides you with the chance to make new choices and to envision more genuine ways of responding to challenging situations.

I also apply Buddhist insight meditation techniques fostering a non-judgmental awareness of the present moment and the changing nature of moment-to-moment lived experience. The process of closely examining how your moods and reactions arise eventually allows you be more mindful about how you would like to respond and feel. Grounding your attention in the present moment rather than past events or anxieties about the future situates you in a place of mental alertness awakening within yourself the capacity to experience life with openness, curiosity, receptiveness and equanimity.

I am bilingual (English and German). Having grown up in another country and relocating to America, I have experienced the process of immigration and acculturation firsthand. Thus I am familiar with and sensitive to cultural differences and ethnic diversity. I am also cognizant of the central role that language plays in your upbringing and in your interpersonal relationships. I listen carefully to subtle nuances in your speech, paying close attention to the way you express yourself, your choice of words and idiomatic style of expression.

Over the years I have worked with people from various racial, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds and provide culturally sensitive psychotherapy. In my practice I have worked with individuals, couples, adolescents and children who presented with a wide variety of psychological issues and behavioral difficulties. My clients taught me how to focus and pay close attention to intricate details of their thought process thus allowing me to examine, comprehend and interpret their unconscious modes of thinking.