Meet US

Welcome, we are glad you’re here.
GGPA is an LGBTQIA Affirmative practice and provides mental health services to individuals (teens and adults) and couples identifying and belonging to all modes/types of relationships including heterosexual couples.  GGPA facilitates group psychotherapy in addiction, substance use, harm reduction, LGBTQIA groups, etc.  GGPA’s team of clinicians are all LGBTQIA Affirmative Therapists, Emotionally-Focused Therapists and Trauma Therapists (EMDR, TRM and Brainspotting), Sex Therapists, Kink-aware and polyam therapists.
Below you will find information about GGP’s licensed therapists and associates who are currently in the process of obtaining clinical hours for licensure and under the supervision of Grazel Garcia, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.  GGP’s clinical associates offer limited sliding scale options for individuals, couples and families.  To know more about their approach and specialties, please see below.  Note:  Each of GGPA’s therapists set their own fees.  Currently, Kat Valentine is the only therapist that is offering sliding scale spots specifically reserved for marginalized populations/communities.
Grazel Garcia,  Founder, LMFT #97561
Best EFT Practitioners in Los Angeles
Grazel Garcia, LMFT #97561

Hi, I’m Grazel and I am happy you are here.  I’d like to start with where I came from in hopes that you get a feel of who I am.  I was born in Manila, Philippines and permanently migrated to Los Angeles, CA to be with family at age 13.  My pronouns are she/her/hers and I identify as Pacific Islander and love being Filipinx.  I also speak Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines, pre-colonization, was known as the “Island of the Painted Ones.”

Prior to being a therapist I attended law school and spent many years working in the legal field.  I took a major shift in my career and received a Master of Science Degree in Counseling with Emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Northridge.  I am relationship expert, a certified Emotionally-focused couple therapist specializing in treating folks that come from various modes of  relationships such as monogamous, consensual non-monogamy, mono-polyamorous, and kink-bdsm couples.  In addition, I am an LGBTQIA+ affirmative therapist, a neurodivergent-affirming therapist, kink-BDSM aware therapist, Grief & Loss therapist, addiction therapist, domestic violence certified therapist and a brainspotting therapist-a trauma treatment modality.  I work with individuals struggling with but not limited to trauma, depression, anxiety, health anxiety, OCD issues, grief and loss/death and dying, survivor’s guilt issues, fertility issues, children of narcissistic parents, mood disorders, schizophrenia, codependency, substance use and substance addiction including sex and love addiction.   The main population I serve come from the entertainment and sports industry and people who hold high position jobs (e.g. directors, writers, athletes and actors at all levels, producers, musicians, dancers, and other creatives, doctors, executive officers, lawyers, business owners, etc).  I utilize psychoanalytic theories specifically focusing on attachment-based treatments and other psychoanalytic theories.  Most importantly, I create a space wherein there is an open dialogue of racism, systems of oppression, colonization, and immigration in my therapy treatment with patients.

Outside of the therapy office,  I am very active in the EFT field and a part of the team of helpers providing annual EFT  training to other therapists with EFT trainers Silvina Irwin and Nancy Gardner.  I am one of the steering committee members for the new EFT Center of Los Angeles (EFTCLA) and I used to serve as a board member of the Los Angeles Center in Emotionally Focused Therapy (LACEFT) diversity and program committee.  Furthermore, I am passionate in teaching and supervising unlicensed associates become the best therapists they want to become.  I offer mentorship services to entrepreneurs and to underrepresented teens.  If you want to work with one of my associates, please see their bio below.  If you’d like to read more about me, you may continue reading here….

To book a session with me, please click here.  [Note:  I have an on-going waiting list, if you’d like to be added, please email my assistant, Nicole.

Nicole Orsini, LCSW, GGPA Operations Manager
Nicole Orsini
Nicole Orsini, Operations Manager

Nicole Orsini is Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been working in behavioral health since 2001. After obtaining her undergraduate degree in Criminology, Law & Society at UC Irvine, she started her professional career by managing fundraising efforts at the university’s Annual Fund where she raised more than half a million dollars.  After graduating as a Dean’s Scholar from the University of Southern California with a master’s degree in Social Work, Nicole worked for the County of Orange Health Care Agency in the Substance Abuse & Crime Prevention Program. During her time in this program, she worked on the clinical assessment team, as a Court Liaison, and eventually the Program Supervisor. 

At this time, Nicole is no longer seeing patients in treatment after several years providing therapy in a private practice setting.  Nicole has shifted her professional focus from direct clinical services back to administrative and operational services. Using her administrative and management skills, Nicole is helping GGPA manage day-to-day operations, systems, and procedures.  If you’d like to get started with therapy with one of our therapists below or have any questions about how to get started, Nicole can be contacted at admin@grazelgarciatherapy.com for assistance. 

 

Dr. Tyler Howard, PsyD #31425
Dr. Howard is a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles.
Tyler Howard, PsyD #31425

Dr. Tyler Howard is an LGBTQIA affirmative therapist and provides psychotherapy to individuals and couples who struggle with difficulties related to but not limited to gender and sexual identity, unresolved childhood trauma and abuse, historical and societal trauma, oppression, power and privilege, chronic stress, anxiety/panic, emotional overwhelm, obsessive and compulsive behaviors, recurring relationship conflict, depression, problems with intimacy, lack of focus and motivation, major life transitions, and grief and loss.

Dr. Howard achieved her Master’s and Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles.  She has been trained by psychoanalysts as her mentors and draws on her knowledge and experience with psychodynamic and psychoanalytic theories, cognitive-behavioral interventions, spirituality and mind/body science within an integrative and interpersonal treatment approach.  She dedicates herself to ongoing training and research, and builds upon her knowledge of systems of oppression, and her competencies to support people in social healing and change.

In addition, Dr. Howard provides ADHD psychological evaluations to teens and adults.  To know more about the evaluation process, please click ADHD Evaluation – What To Expect.  Click here to book a session with Dr. Howard or you can call her directly at 323-419-1844.

Tiffany Cuevas, AMFT #140616
Headshot Tiffany Cuevas, GGPA Associate Therapist
Tiffany Cuevas, AMFT #140616

Tiffany Cuevas (she/her/hers) is an Emotionally Focused therapist for individuals (EFIT) and is currently attending training in Emotionally-focused therapy for couples (EFCT).  She is an inclusive therapist and utilizes an affirming lens to all individuals regardless of identification, orientation, race, culture, socio-economic background, and faith. 

Tiffany identifies as Latinx; however, considers herself multicultural given that from a young age she found herself navigating between two worlds where both ethnic and socio-economic statuses greatly differed.  Tiffany’s knowledge and experience with multiculturalism grant her a unique perspective on the challenges of being a minority in an otherwise homogenized culture. 

Tiffany takes a compassionate and collaborative attachment-focused approach that features experiential elements.  She is accustomed to working with a range of clients from teenagers to older adults; and is also passionate in working with couples from all modes of relationships to help them rediscover and strengthen their attachment and connection.  She has had the privilege of helping others process emotional overwhelm associated with anger, anxiety, and depression, and navigate through terrains of grief/loss, relational issues, major life events, and unresolved childhood trauma .

Prior to receiving her degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Hope International University, Tiffany attended seminary and obtained her first masters in a combination of philosophy and theology. Tiffany incorporates her previous education into her work as a therapist in the room with clients whenever it’s applicable, as she practices holding space for the totality of the complex human experience—both the visible and invisible parts of our humanity.  Tiffany is committed to seeking continuous education for further growth and development that is relevant and beneficial to empowering her clients at both a collective and individual level of healing and growth. 

Tiffany is a registered associate marriage and family therapist, #140616, and is currently employed by and under the clinical supervision of Grazel Garcia, LMFT #97561. Tiffany welcomes sliding-scale requests from marginalized communities on a limited basis.  For therapy services, you may book a session with Tiffany or call her directly at 1-909-276-7878

 Kat Valentine, AMFT #131427
Therapist Photo, Kat Valentine
Kat Valentine, AMFT #131427

Kat Valentine (she/her/hers) is an LGBTQIA+, kink, and polyam-affirmative therapist, who works with adults, romantic partners, chosen family, and teens. Kat enjoys working with couples and is currently in training towards becoming a certified Emotionally Focused Therapist (EFT).  Kat takes a humanist, collaborative, attachment-focused approach to therapy.  She has experience empowering people to work through shame, anxiety, depression, ADHD, coming out, and relational issues. She believes it’s often useful to examine the stories we tell ourselves and in our relationships in order to weave new narratives that better serve us.

Kat’s learning experiences have taken her all over the world, after being born in Atlanta, Georgia she moved to Scotland, Singapore, and now Los Angeles.  Prior to receiving a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Northridge, Kat earned her PhD in Social Psychology while living in Singapore.  Moreover, Kat was a Psychology lecturer at Chapman University for 3 years.  Beyond living abroad for 10 years, Kat has developed an awareness of her white fragility and her engagement in perpetuating systemic racism.  She is committed to learning ways to engage in new behaviors that will help end injustice.  Her multi-cultural perspective means that she will accept your goals for therapy rather than imposing her own and help you make strides towards fulfilling them.  Kat is a socioculturally attuned therapist whose past experience and continual self-education guide her practice.

Kat is a registered associate marriage and family therapist, #131427, and is currently employed by and under the clinical supervision of Grazel Garcia, LMFT #97561. Kat welcomes sliding-scale requests from marginalized communities on a limited basis.  For therapy services, you may book a session with Kat or call her directly at 1-818-538-8308.

In therapy, we will heal wounds and face challenges together.
Photos by:  Paolo GÂ