Ashley Gerken (She/her)

Accepting Clients

Trauma-focused therapist helping clients heal anxiety, improve relationships, and build confidence, emotional safety, and self-worth.

Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in California

Services
  • Individual
  • Couples
  • Adolescent/Teen

About My Clients

I work best with clients who feel stuck in patterns of anxiety, emotional overwhelm, relationship difficulties, low self-worth, or unresolved trauma. Many of my clients are high-functioning externally while struggling internally with stress, burnout, people-pleasing, emotional dysregulation, or feeling disconnected from themselves. I provide a supportive, trauma-informed space focused on insight, healing, emotional regulation, and lasting personal growth.

My Background and Approach

I am a doctoral level trauma-focused therapist with 10+ years of experience in settings providing trauma-informed care to adolescents and adults experiencing anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, relationship challenges, personality-related concerns, and the impacts of complex trauma. My approach is integrative, blending evidence-based practices including CBT, DBT-informed interventions, mindfulness, attachment-focused work, and trauma-informed therapy. I specialize in helping clients better understand the connection between past experiences, nervous system responses, relationship patterns, and current emotional struggles. My therapeutic style is direct, compassionate, collaborative, and focused on creating meaningful, lasting change.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

I approach therapy from a trauma-informed, person-centered lens rooted in respect, dignity, and collaboration. I believe healing happens in safe, authentic relationships where people feel seen without judgment and supported in reconnecting with themselves and their values. I am committed to culturally responsive care, inclusivity, and creating a space where clients of all identities feel welcomed and respected. I actively support social justice and advocate for equitable, affirming care, especially for LGBTQ+ individuals and communities who have historically faced barriers to accessing safe, validating mental health support. I strive to ensure therapy is a space where identity is affirmed, not pathologized. I value emotional safety, autonomy, and empowerment, and I aim to help clients build self-awareness, self-compassion, and meaningful change at their own pace.

Techniques I Use

Other Techniques
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Anger Management Therapy
  • Attachment Theory
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Couples Counseling
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Harm Reduction Therapy
  • Humanistic Therapy
  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Narrative Therapy
  • Psychodynamic Therapy
  • Internal Family Systems
  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

Issues I Treat

Specialties
LGBTQ-Friendly Therapists Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Other Issues
  • Addiction
  • ADHD Therapists
  • Anger Issues
  • Anxiety
  • Attachment
  • Bipolar
  • Body Image Issues
  • Burnout
  • Codependency
  • Depression
  • Dissociative Disorders
  • Divorce
  • Domestic Violence or Intimate Partner Violence
  • Family Conflict
  • Gender Identity Therapy
  • Grief or Loss
  • Historical/ Intergenerational Trauma
  • Insomnia
  • LGBTQ-Friendly Therapists
  • Marriage Counseling
  • Personality Disorders
  • Polyamorous and Open Relationships
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Relationship Issues
  • Self-Esteem
  • Sexual Abuse or Assault
  • Teen Issues
  • Women's Issues
Insurance Plans Accepted
  • CPH insurance
I offer online counseling in the following states:

At A Glance

  • Experience: 9 years of practice
  • Rate: $180 - 250/session

Reach out to Ashley