My Approach to Therapy

I am a licensed clinical psychologist who believes that through a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship you can make the changes within yourself that will lead to a more satisfying life.  Maybe you have read self-help books in the past or have engaged in homework from previous therapists, but have struggled to make the changes suggested in a sustainable way.  You recognize that you want to create a better understanding of yourself so that you will feel less weighed down by the burdens of your life, but are unsure of the way in which to do so.  Therapy can be a place in which you have the opportunity to get to know yourself in a new and different way.  Through the relationship with me, you can have a chance to try out new ways of being in relationships, so that your relationships outside of therapy may be transformed.   
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​​I view the therapy relationship as the most important route to change, which is informed by my relational psychodynamic perspective.  For a person who is not a therapist, that just means that I use the therapeutic relationship - as well as exploring a person’s past and present relationships - as a way in which a person can better understand him- or herself.  In particular, early attachment relationships significantly impact the way in which a person comes to expect that subsequent relationships in their lives will function.  For example, if a person learned that their mother or father would only intermittently respond to their needs, then that person may not view others as reliable, and might have difficulty expressing their needs to their partners and friends. Alternatively, if a person had a parental figure that was very smothering in their attention, a person may not want to develop close relationships with others, for fear of losing their sense of self within those relationships.  
 
By gaining insight into the ways in which these relationships have influenced you, you will have a greater ability to see why you are stuck in certain patterns in relationships and have the ability to consciously choose to act in a different manner. Furthermore, a person will also repeat these relational patterns in the relationship with the therapist.  By the therapist attending to these patterns, she can draw a person’s attention to the ways in which he or she is interacting with her, which creates the opportunity for a person to increase his or her awareness of how his or her relationships are impacted.

​Whether dealing with anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, or another issue, you can create changes that will ultimately alleviate the symptoms that you feel by creating a new way of understanding yourself.  Although this often requires a painful look at yourself in therapy, you will not be alone in this journey.  I will partner with you.  Leaning into the pain may seem like a scary and intimidating idea, but if you are longing to understand why previous attempts to change have not worked, you have to take a deeper look inside of yourself to know why you act as you do.  By examining your early experience in relationships, you can come to a new understanding of why you relate to others as you do and become unstuck from the patterns that cause you to repeat the painful ways of relating to other people.  


​About Me

​I originally hail from the Midwest, and my love of the sunny outdoors drew me to this area.  I completed my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University in Clinical Psychology in La Mirada, California.  During graduate school, I gained a passion for psychodynamic therapy, which focuses on how a person’s early attachment relationships and unconscious processes impact his or her current life and relationships.  I enjoy working with people ranging in age from college all the way to older adults in individual and couples therapy.  I look forward to meeting with you so that you can see the way in which your life can be transformed by therapy. 
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​Services Offered

  • Individual Psychotherapy​
  • Couples Therapy
  • Infertility Support Groups
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Fees & Insurance

My fee for individual and couples therapy is $170 for a 50 minute session.  Although I do not accept insurance, I am happy to provide you with a superbill, which you can give to your insurance company to obtain reimbursement.  Please remember that you are ultimately responsible for payment for any services not covered by your insurance company.  ​
  

Jaclyn Davis, Ph.D.

Phone: 512-649-1742
​Email: [email protected]