Susan Merletti

Susan Merletti is a California-licensed counselor with 39 years of professional experience. She approaches therapy with respect for each person's story and believes people already carry strengths that can help them through hard times.

Susan helps people cope with stress, anxiety, and depression. She also supports those facing relationship difficulties, chronic illness, cancer, and unresolved trauma. Her work is grounded in listening first and following what matters most to the person in front of her.

In sessions she focuses on practical steps and gentle reflection. Techniques draw from mindfulness practices to increase awareness, and from cognitive behavioral ideas to address unhelpful thinking and habits. She also uses client-centered and psychodynamic perspectives to understand life patterns and emotional meaning.

Susan aims to create space for people to talk about grief, intimacy issues, body image, and work or career concerns. She offers help around addiction, sleep and eating struggles, anger, and low self-esteem. Additional areas she addresses include communication problems, family of origin issues, gender dysphoria, and sexuality concerns.

Her approach is collaborative and paced to each person's readiness. Susan encourages small, manageable changes and supports people as they test new ways of coping. She sees therapy as a partnership where the client's goals guide the work.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Mindfulness Therapy focuses on present-moment awareness and simple attention practices to reduce reactivity and increase calm; it can help with anxiety, stress, chronic pain, and coping with illness. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a warm, nonjudgmental listening stance where the therapist follows the client's lead and offers support for making personal changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and uses practical exercises to shift unhelpful patterns and improve daily functioning.

Finding the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they decide whether mindfulness practices, CBT exercises, or more reflective client-centered work best for the issue at hand, and the plan can change over time.

The original biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm available options before booking. In general, online therapy can make scheduling easier and help fit sessions into a busy life. It can reduce travel time, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and let people keep appointments around work or caregiving responsibilities. Licensed professionals can adapt mindfulness, CBT exercises, and reflective conversation to an online setting to help people practice new skills between sessions.