evidence-based therapy for adults in west los angeles
TAKE ON new ways of thinking AND BEING
While most people start therapy to find relief unpleasant symptoms — like nervousness, people-pleasing, or low mood — our work goes far beyond simply trying to eliminate them. Symptoms come and go. What matters most is how you learn to understand, respond, and cope.
Tired of feeling stuck?
Our clients often struggle with…
Tolerating distress and unwanted emotions
Perfectionistic tendencies
Low self-compassion
Basing self-worth on achievements
Getting in touch with how they really feel
Navigating life transitions
Loving someone with a personality disorder
Being in relationship with others
Motivating for action
IF YOU’RE HERE, you’re ready to make a change
At Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group, individual psychotherapy welcomes you into a collaborative and personalized experience, coupling strong and safe therapeutic relationships with evidence-based therapies.
Working together means co-creating a plan for your therapy that is comprehensive, adaptable, and generalizable so that you’ll take your therapeutic gains everywhere you go.
Ready to take the next step with us?
How Therapy Can Help
Growth and change don’t typically happen all at once; they take shape gradually in small, meaningful shifts in thinking, feeling, being, and relating to yourself and others.
Behavioral therapy provides the tools and opportunities for practice in between sessions that allows these shifts to build on each other—helping you move through challenges with more ease, respond intuitively, and live in a way that feels more aligned with who you are and what matters most to you.
Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group clients find that growth from individual therapy looks like:
Changing unhealthy patterns of behavior
Building self-awareness
Trusting your intuition
Approaching yourself with curiosity rather than self-punishment
Navigating the world with more flexibility
Developing an accessible and personalized set of coping strategies
Learning how to meet your own needs
Feeling more comfortable with who you are, even when you aren’t feeling your best
MEET THE TEAM
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Brooke Schwartz, LCSW
Founder & Therapist
Areas of expertise: perfectionism, anxiety, depression, first time in therapy, personality disorders, relationship and interpersonal challenges, and life transitions.
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Mitchell Hale, LCSW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: LGBTQIA+ issues, trauma symptoms and PTSD, OCD, body dysmorphia, anger, anxiety, career changes, critical self-talk, and depression
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Sara Arpiarian, LCSW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: anxiety, depression, relationship and interpersonal challenges, trauma, grief and loss, ADHD, adoption-related issues, parenting skills, and navigating life transitions.
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Sophie Elkins, MSW, ASW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: teen and young adult mental health, anxiety, perfectionism, body image, life transitions, self-esteem, trauma, couples, relationship dynamics, and effective communication strategies.
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Kaitlin Christy, AMFT, APCC
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: child, teen, and young adult mental health, emotion dysregulation, anxiety (OCD, panic, phobias), depression, self-esteem, family dynamics, play & art therapy, parent-child work, impulse control, ADHD, and personality disorders.
The modalityEvidence-Based Individual Therapy
Our therapists specialize in coupling strong and safe therapeutic relationships with evidence-based therapies. Working alongside you means co-developing a plan for your therapy that is comprehensive, adaptable, and generalizable so that you’ll take your therapeutic gains everywhere you go.
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Founded by a former comprehensive DBT therapist, SPG’s philosophy and approach to therapy is deeply rooted in DBT principles. This means we emphasize skill-building (think: learning how to tolerate distress and communicate more effectively) and specialize in working with those who’ve been chronically invalidated by loved ones or environments. Together, we’ll create a tailored, personalized treatment plan based on the skills you want to learn and your long-term goals.
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CBT is a present-focused type of therapy that’s been proven to treat most mental health conditions (in fact, it’s the most studied psychotherapy modality in the world!). Using CBT techniques, we’ll find connections between your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and body sensations. We’ll explore more adaptive ways of coping and set you up to practice in between sessions so that you become your own CBT expert.
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Using ACT principles, we’ll help you build insight into patterns of psychological inflexibility getting in the way of living in line with your values. With that, it should come as no surprise that ACT is a modality designed to be flexible. This means that regardless of what we’re talking about or working on, there will be opportunities to weave in ACT themes like being present, accepting and differentiating from your thoughts, committing to action, and values clarification.
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ERP is a form of therapy we use with clients experiencing OCD, phobias, health anxiety, panic attacks, and more. We’ll collaborate to create a plan in which you’ll be gradually exposed to something (an experience, sensation, or thought) that you fear, all the while helping you decrease avoidance strategies that have kept your fears alive.
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HRT is a modality we use to help clients reduce or eliminate unwanted habits like skin picking, hair pulling, cheek or nail biting, and more. We’ll explore everything you’ve tried to do to kick the habit before, help you build thorough awareness of the behavior, and then collaborate to create alternative behaviors, change your environment, reinforce progress, and build self-compassion.
Reaching out means CHANGE HAS ALREADY STARTED.
Step 01
Schedule a consultation call so we can learn more about you and answer any questions you have about starting individual therapy.
Step 02
Meet with your therapist for a 45-50 minute intake session to share your story and set goals that will guide your individual therapy.
Step 03
Get to work! Meet with your therapist in-person or virtually, and practice a new way of navigating your life in between sessions.
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THERAPY FOR ADULTS
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Behavioral therapy goes beyond just talking about what’s happening—it focuses on helping you actively change the patterns that are keeping you stuck. While there is space to process and make sense of your experiences, we also work on building skills, practicing new ways of responding, and applying what you’re learning in your day-to-day life. The goal isn’t just insight—it’s helping that insight translate into meaningful, lasting change.
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At Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all timeline. Some people come to therapy for a specific concern and work through it in a shorter period of time, while others choose to stay longer to deepen self-understanding and continue growing. We’ll regularly check in on your goals and progress so that therapy feels purposeful and aligned with what you need, especially as your therapy needs change over time.
That being said, one of the benefits of evidence-based therapies is we have research to show that many clients start to see improvement in 4-6 sessions with significant progress in 12-16 weeks.
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You don’t need to have it all figured out before you begin! We welcome those who feel too unsure, overwhelmed, and even confused about whether therapy can really help them—because part of the work is helping you make sense of what’s going on and finding a place to begin together. Together, we’ll move at a pace that feels manageable, with curiosity rather than pressure.
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We bet you have! Everyone we work with has tried something to feel better or change (even if it backfires), because everyone we work with is human.
Whether you’ve tried to feel better or solve your problems on your own or with a therapist, therapy at Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group offers something different: a space to slow things down, see patterns more clearly, and try new ways of responding with support and guidance.
It’s not about starting over—it’s about building on what you’ve already been doing in a way that leads to more sustainable change.
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Yes! Therapy isn’t only for moments of crisis—it can also be a space for growth, reflection, and making intentional changes proactively. Many people come to therapy because they want to understand themselves better, improve how they relate to others, or feel more aligned with their values. You don’t have to wait until things are at their worst to benefit from support—in fact, starting when things feel stable is often the best way to prevent a crisis.
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With your goals at the forefront of our work together, what’s “working” will be a regular topic of conversation.
You may notice subtle shifts or larger “aha” moments, but it’s not your job alone to notice progress—that’s our role too, and we’ll tell you when we see it.
Clients we work with often describe feeling more steady in situations that used to feel overwhelming, having more cognitive flexibility, and being able to approach themselves with more understanding and less self-criticism.
Whatever shifts represent therapy “working” for you, the goal is for them to build over time—helping you navigate challenges with more ease and live in a way that feels more aligned with who you are and what matters to you most.