psychotherapy for people who struggle to like themselves
Encino, West LA, and virtually across California.
Maybe you can relate
You made a choice, something went wrong. And so the spiral begins.
"Sh*t. If I had just done that differently, none of this would've happened."
You blame yourself. You wonder if someone else — someone smarter, kinder, more capable — could've avoided all of this. You look around, and everyone else seems to recover so easily. They laugh it off, apologize, move on.
Somehow, you end up feeling guilty even hours later.
One part of you knows you’re being way too hard on yourself. Another part of you insists that if you’re just hard enough on yourself, you will never make this mistake again.
Maybe the "mistake" was a wrong turn, missing a reservation, saying something awkwardly. Maybe it was a parenting moment — the way you snapped, or the way you let your kid walk all over you. Maybe there isn’t even a mistake at all.
Maybe it’s that feeling you carry around that tells you something inside you feels wrong.
How therapy can help
Over time, this way of relating to yourself just feels normal. On one level, you understand that you’re hard on yourself. On a deeper, more emotional level, it feels like the truth about who you are. The experience sounds like, “I really am irresponsible.” “I really am too much.” “I seriously can’t get anything right.”
In psychotherapy, we examine this experience together. We become curious about where this voice comes from, why it shows up when it does, and maybe even how it works for you.
By exploring what your experiences mean, in the presence of someone interested and curious about you, we introduce something different — a more compassionate experience than the one you feel now. Over time, that new experience loosens the grip of self-criticism. Curiosity slowly replaces judgment, and that curiosity leads to relating to yourself and the world in ways that didn’t feel attainable.
Patients often find themselves developing greater self-compassion, more curiosity, and a deeper understanding of themselves. From there, they're able to make different choices, toward a more fulfilling life aligned with who they are, rather than what they fear.
"Mistakes" feel less devastating.
________
Relationships feel safer.
________
Being yourself feels not only easier, but better.
Dr. Yeva Ghrjyan, PsyD
Clinical Psychologist in Los Angeles
I practice psychoanalytic psychotherapy, a depth-oriented approach to therapy, where we learn about ourselves in the presence of another.
It’s my absolute privilege to walk alongside the people I work with through the process of self-discovery and the inevitabilities of life.
If something here resonated with you,
a complimentary 15-minute consultation is a good place to start.
Encino | West LA | Virtual across California.