Macarena Santelices

Macarena Santelices is a licensed clinician with 14 years of professional experience. She holds LCPC and LPCC credentials and practices in California. She emphasizes practical support and meets people where they are in their lives.

She focuses on stress, anxiety, relationship and family concerns, low self-esteem, depression, parenting challenges, and coping with life changes. Additional areas she addresses include abandonment and attachment issues, body image, caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, communication problems, and feelings of isolation or shame. Macarena aims to help people build on their existing strengths as they work toward clearer goals.

Her approach uses mindfulness practices alongside Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy tools. Sessions tend to be collaborative and down to earth. She helps people notice patterns, try new ways of responding, and practice skills between meetings.

Macarena describes clients as the experts on their own stories and positions herself as a supportive guide. She emphasizes small steps and realistic goals. Parents who are nervous about starting therapy will find straightforward language and a calm, encouraging style.

To begin, visitors are invited to take the initial matching questionnaire and schedule according to the therapist's availability. The process aims to make beginning therapy easier and to align sessions with each person's needs and pace.

How mindfulness and skills work in online therapy

Mindfulness Therapy helps people pay attention to the present moment in a gentle way. It can reduce rumination and ease everyday stress by teaching grounding and awareness practices. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and helps people try small, practical changes that can lift mood and reduce anxiety. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches emotion-regulation and interpersonal skills and can be useful for managing strong emotions and impulsive reactions.

Choosing the right approach is often a joint process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels doable. Together they will try methods that fit the person's life and adjust techniques over time if something does not feel helpful.

Session formats are not specified in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, or remove travel time. Many people find it simpler to practice mindfulness and skills between sessions when therapy fits into their daily routine. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises and pacing to match each person's needs and schedule.