Lankavi Guneratne MooreLMFT

The first session is all about getting to know each other! We’ll discuss what led you to decide to seek therapy and what your expectations are. Additionally, we’ll talk about your background, family, interests and hobbies, and previous experiences in therapy (if any). We’ll also talk about what social supports and coping skills you have available to you. Once we have a better idea of what the focus of therapy should be, we’ll set some short-term and long-term goals. I’d also be happy to answer any questions you have about the process of therapy and what to expect.

You do not need to be in crisis to seek therapy (although if you are, please do reach out)! It’s easy to feel like our problems are not significant, or that we need to be more “grateful” for what we have, but if you are struggling or not feeling your best, that is a perfectly valid reason to seek therapy and help is available to you. Your therapist is not here to judge you or the severity of your problem, but to be on your team and help you lead a more fulfilling, authentic life.

My style of therapy is eclectic or “multi-modal.” This means I’m able to draw from multiple theoretical orientations and techniques to best fit your individual needs. Therapy is not “one size fits all” and each person has different goals and expectations for what they want to achieve from therapy. If we decide you could benefit from a short-term/“goal-focused” approach, we could use a solution-focused or cognitive-behavioral approach. If not, we would use a psychodynamic approach, where the goal is to help you increase insight and become more self-aware. For family therapy, I use a systems approach, that is, operating from the belief that all members of a family contribute to the dynamic of whether the family is functioning in a healthy or dysfunctional way.

• California, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 121425

I began my clinical work in community mental health agencies working with survivors of trauma, domestic violence and sexual assault. I was also able to work with high-risk youth and run several community-based groups focused on anger management, parenting, batterers' intervention, and trauma resilience. From there, I moved to teen treatment centers where I was able to work with adolescents and families in a variety of settings, including residential, partial-hospitalization and outpatient. Most recently, I served as the Program Director for a partial hospitalization program. My specialties are listed above.