Jaclyn Yuki Birdsall, M.S., LMFT#133678

Welcome.

If you are looking for a therapist who focuses on helping you understand who you are, at your inner core, then you are in the right place. My name is Jaclyn Yuki Birdsall, and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Los Angeles, California.

My Journey

I chose to become a therapist as a result of my personal life journey. My past experiences working with children, growing up as a mixed race woman and the various struggles I’ve had to overcome throughout my life have all inspired me to take the steps necessary to get to where I am today.

Before discovering my path towards becoming a therapist, I worked with children for over a decade and found a love for teaching art. Although I loved my time as a teacher, after several years I felt that there was more I wanted to do. I felt an urge to not only work with children, but adults as well. I reflected on my life and realized that I had personal experience growing up as a mixed race woman in America, and found that a lot of people I met who were of similar backgrounds had a difficult time identifying how they were accepted and what their worth was in society.

Not only did I find that my particular background played a role in my ability to empathize with people from other cultures, I also began to realize that the many traumas I’ve encountered in my life have also helped me to understand others on a deeper level. I have survived house fires, family deaths, medical illnesses and un-healthy relationships. I learned the importance of self care, and how vital it is to have a personal therapist helping to navigate the many obstacles of life. As I sought help through therapy, I found myself growing stronger in my personal identity and becoming an advocate for women, children, and human beings in need. I uncovered a passion for helping others on my personal path towards healing, similar to the way I was helped through my own struggles. I then decided to go to graduate school to attain a Master’s of Science degree in counseling, with a focus on Marriage and Family Therapy, and here I am today.

My Methods

I like to work with clients from a strong humanistic approach, as I believe that each client is an expert on themselves and simply needs guidance in navigating their personal emotions.

I have extensive experience working with individuals who have high levels of anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Some more of my previous experience includes working with adult women with self esteem, body image issues, eating disorders, and uncovering the meaning behind these circumstances. I also enjoy working with spouses who would like to explore their personal identities on a deeper level, and gain a better understanding of their inner workings outside of their relationships, both in heterosexual couplings and with those in the LGBTQ community. When working with couples and families, I focus on communication issues utilizing Emotionally Focused Therapy techniques to help aid in both understanding and communication.

Practice Focus

My practice focuses on self-esteem and identity work, while helping you reflect on the person that you truly are. By forming a stronger understanding of your personal values, likes, dislikes, and various personality aspects, you can strengthen your identity from within. This can help with depression and anxiety, as identity formation and understanding can be affected by many events that occur in your day to day life. If you’ve lost sight of who you are due to the ending of a relationship or stressful situations in life, I can help. If you simply want to form a clearer understanding of yourself and how you interact with others and the world in daily life activities, then I am the therapist for you.

Due to the fact that I was an art teacher for many years before transitioning into the helping profession, I have been able to incorporate creativity into my practice utilizing the various techniques I learned as a teacher. To my delight, I have found that many clients like to engage in art related techniques to aid in the understanding of their inner workings and emotions, so if you are ever interested in incorporating art into our sessions, I can happily structure an art based therapeutic activity to help with your personal journey of self-discovery.

If any of this sounds appealing to you, I invite you to call or email me for a free consultation to see if we are a good fit and to start your personal journey towards well-being.