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
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 specializing in treating couples including couples who are in alternative relationships/lifestyles, friends and individuals utilizing Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) treatment modality. In addition, I am an LGBTQIA+ affirmative therapist, Kink/Polyam/BDSM aware therapist, Grief & Loss therapist, Addiction therapist, Domestic Violence Certified therapist and a Brainspotting therapist. I work with individuals struggling with but not limited to Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Health Anxiety, OCD issues, Grief and Loss/Death and Dying, 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 industry and people who hold high position jobs (e.g. directors, writers, 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 drama therapy. I create a space wherein there is an open dialogue of racism, colonization, and immigration in my therapy treatment.
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 also a board member of the Los Angeles Center in Emotionally Focused Therapy (LACEFT) diversity and program committee. I am passionate in supervising unlicensed associates become the best therapists they want to become. 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 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. 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.
Sierra Briscoe, Clinical Associate, LMFT #111842
Sierra K. Briscoe – she/her/hers, is an emotionally-focused therapist for individuals, a grief & loss therapist and sex-positive, kink-aware, LGBTQIA+ affirmative therapist welcoming to all non-traditional relationships and lifestyles. Sierra considers it an honor to serve her community in this capacity. Sierra takes a modern, person-centered, and collaborative approach to therapy. In her practice, she strives to co-create a safe, judgment-free environment that is conducive to moving through emotional blocks, overcoming past traumas, and letting go of patterns that no longer serve you.
Sierra is trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and EFIT (emotionally focused individual therapy) and finds both of them useful modalities for healing trauma. She enjoys working with women, artists, musicians, sex workers, polyam people, kinky people, people exploring their sexuality, the LGBTQIA+ community and couples and individuals who feel like they don’t fit into the norms of society. Sierra incorporates mindfulness, meditation practices and somatic techniques into her work. She views her clients as experts of their own lives. Sierra aims for each client to find liberation in their life no matter how they choose to live it. For Sierra’s full bio, click here.
Sierra received a Master of Science Degree in Counseling with Emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Northridge. Sierra is a licensed marriage and family therapist #129471. For therapy services, you may book a session with Sierra or call her directly at 1-(818)-437-4403. You may also visit her website by clicking here.
Kati Phillips, Clinical Associate, LMFT #134447
Kati Phillips (she/hers) is a licensed couples and family therapist with advanced training in emotionally-focused therapy (EFT) and sex therapy. She uses an LGBTQIA-affirming, feminist-oriented and socio-culturally attuned lens in her work with couples, adults, teens and folks in consensual non-monogamous relationships.
Kati takes an emotionally-focused approach to therapy, helping people identify and disrupt negative interaction patterns so that they can be more accessible, engaged and responsive to the people they love. She has experience working with anxiety, depression, sexuality, gender identity, neurodivergence, open relationships and abuse. She believes that clients have the wisdom to solve many of their own problems, and she works with people to figure out what works for them and how to do it more.
Kati is a licensed marriage and family therapist #134447. She earned a Master’s of Science degree with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University in Northridge and a sex therapy certificate from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She trained at Southern California Counseling Center and Ness Counseling Center. She counts dogs and pizza among her coping mechanisms.
Kati welcomes accommodations for sliding-scale requests but sessions are only available to marginalized populations and on a limited basis. For therapy services, you may book a session with Kati or call her directly at 1-213-245-1861. You may also visit her website by clicking here.
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.