Deana Porter, LMFT

Deana Porter is a licensed marriage and family therapist with nearly three decades of clinical experience in California. She focuses on relationship concerns, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, and mood challenges such as depression. Deana aims to create a calm, respectful space where people can talk through what matters most to them.

She helps people who struggle with self-esteem, motivation, anxiety, grief, and stress. She also supports those facing eating or sleeping difficulties, parenting strain, anger, career transitions, and compassion fatigue. Her work includes attention to adoption and foster care, attachment and blended family issues, and caregiver stress.

Deana uses practical, goal-oriented methods that are shaped around each person's needs. Her approach draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to address thought patterns and teach coping skills. She also brings elements of the Gottman Method for relationship work and Internal Family Systems for understanding inner parts.

Sessions focus on clear goals, tools you can try between meetings, and step-by-step progress. Deana explains ideas in everyday language and tailors the pace to the person in front of her. She emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and compassion throughout the process.

Taking the first step can feel hard. Deana works with people who want more satisfaction in relationships and daily life, and she supports practical change over time.