Best Therapists in Riverside, CA of 2025
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Best Therapists in Riverside, California of 2025
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I. Therapists in Riverside, CA
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Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Stress, Anxiety, Addictions, Relationship issues, Trauma and abuse, Parenting issues, LGBT, Family conflicts, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Eating disorders, Sleeping disorders, Anger management, Self esteem, Career difficulties, Bipolar disorder, Depression, Coping with life changes, Coaching, Compassion fatigue, ADHD
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Stress, Anxiety, Addictions, Self esteem, Depression, Relationship issues, Family conflicts, Trauma and abuse, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Anger management, Career difficulties, Bipolar disorder, Coping with life changes, ADHD
Eileen Beirich
- 20 years of Experience
- United States
- Pasadena, California
- Visit Website
Areas of focus: Adoption, Anxiety, Depression, Marital / Premarital, Relationship Issues
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Psychodynamic
State License: California
Steven Garman
- 30 years of Experience
- United States
- Chino, California
- Visit Website
Areas of focus: ADHD, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Codependency, Divorce, Marital / Premarital, Relationship Issues, Self Esteem, Sexual Abuse, Spirituality
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Family / Marital, Jungian, Psychodynamic
State License: California
Maelisa Hall
- 11 years of Experience
- United States
- Irvine, California
- Visit Website
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Coaching, Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Multicultural, Psychological Testing and Evaluation, Solution Focused Brief (SFBT)
State License: California
Soad Tabrizi
- 10 years of Experience
- United States
- Mission Viejo, California
- Visit Website
Areas of focus: Addiction, Alcohol Abuse, Anxiety, Behavior Issues, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality, Career Counseling, Codependency, Coping Skills, Depression, Drug Abuse, Dual Diagnosis, End of Life Issues, Faith Transition, Goal Setting, Life Coaching, OCD, Self Esteem, Spirituality
Languages: English, Farsi
Treatment Approaches: Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Dialectical (DBT), Motivational Interviewing, Narrative, Psychoanalytic, Solution Focused Brief (SFBT)
State Licenses: California, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia
Nancy Culhane
- 40+ years of Experience
- United States
- Fairfax, California
- Visit Website
Areas of focus: Coping Skills, Divorce, Goal Setting, Grief, Infidelity, Interpersonal Relationships, Life Transitions, Marital / Premarital, Parenting, Relationship Issues, Women's Issues
Languages: English, Finnish
Treatment Approaches: Family / Marital, Integrative, Narrative, Relational
State Licenses: California and Nevada
Melissa Jones
- 11 years of Experience
- United States
- Online, California
- Visit Website
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Eclectic, Existential, Family / Marital, Family Systems, Gestalt, Humanistic, Hypnotherapy, Relational
State License: California
Lori Kandels
- 28 years of Experience
- United States
- San Francisco, California
- Visit Website
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Coaching, Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Culturally Sensitive, EMDR, Family / Marital, Feminist, Mindfulness-based (MBCT), Motivational Interviewing, Multicultural, Narrative, Solution Focused Brief (SFBT)
State License: California
Lisa Larsen
- 15 years of Experience
- United States
- Lancaster, California
- Visit Website
Languages: English
Treatment Approaches: Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), EMDR, Humanistic, Hypnotherapy
State License: California
II. The Best Therapists in Riverside, CA
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The 15 therapists listed below scored well across eight essential criteria, including cost, specializations, credentials, availability, and other key features. Online Therapy evaluated these professionals to assist in your search for the best Riverside therapist who provides reliable therapeutic support at a fair per-session rate. |
Choosing the Best Riverside, CA TherapistsCredentialsCredentials indicate whether a therapist is suitably qualified to provide mental health support, which is why states establish specific licensure requirements. To receive a licensed professional clinical counselor credential in California, applicants must earn a master’s degree in counseling or psychotherapy, complete 3,000 hours of supervised clinical counseling, and pass two tests. AccessibilityThe relationship between a therapist and client greatly influences therapy outcomes, but the best therapist is also available when you need them. Flexible scheduling with convenient office hours is essential in whether a therapist is easy to work with. Most of the therapists listed offer remote sessions to enhance accessibility. CostPeople often tout cost as a barrier to getting the therapy, so factors that increase affordability were considered. Most Riverside therapists charge per session, and several of them work with private insurance carriers that cover mental health care. More than half the therapists listed also offer a sliding fee scale to make counseling more affordable. |
Dominique Roy: LMFT | Best for healing relationships
Website
760-625-7225
Dominique Roy is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a passion to inspire and motivate clients to heal their relationships with others and themselves. She offers a sliding fee scale.
What patients say: “Dominique is thoughtful, genuine and cares deeply about her work helping others live their best lives. Her memory and attention to detail is incredible. She is kind, caring, reliable and relatable!”
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Parenting and Stress Management | Blue Shield, Optum, UnitedHealthcare | Cost per Session: $100+/session | Yes | Yes |
Seraphina Ashe: M.A., LMFT | Best for grief counseling
Website
760-537-3074
Seraphina Ashe is a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified grief counselor who supports clients grieving over the death of a partner, friend, family member, beloved pet, career, or way of life.
What patients say: “She is absolutely amazing! She has helped me work through so many things and I honestly don’t know where I would be today if it wasn’t for her help.”
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Trauma and PTSD, Anxiety, Sexual Abuse | California Health & Wellness, E4Health, HealthNet of California, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), MHN, Mutual of Omaha EAP, Victim of Crime/CalVCB, Out of Network | Cost per Session: $125/session | No | Yes |
Chatchai Charlie Rodnuson: MFTA | Best for adolescents and young adults
909-438-8010
Charlie Rodnuson is a marriage and family therapist associate with six years of experience and a passion for working with adolescents and young adults, including junior high to college-aged teenagers. His specialties include self-esteem issues, anxiety, stress, depression, academic-related and career-related adjustment, and other concerns faced by adolescents and young adults. Charlie offers a calm, collaborative environment and a sliding fee scale.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Career Counseling, Self Esteem, Stress | N/A | Cost per Session: $20/session or $160/6 prepaid sessions | Yes | Yes |
Mary R. Stanley: M.S., MFT, EMDR | Best for couples
Website
951-468–8255
Mary Stanley is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 18 years of experience and specialized training in emotionally focused therapy for treating couples. From marital conflict to divorce recovery, Mary works with couples, or anyone motivated to improve, in a comfortable, supportive atmosphere.
What patients say: “You are a true hero, like a firefighter you entered my burning house and saved me! Thank you, Mary!”
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Anxiety & Depression, Parenting Support, Grief Counseling, Work, College and Career issues, Stress Management, Lifestage transitions, Spiritual Issues | N/A | Cost per Session: $120/hour | No | Yes |
Jonathan S. Kane: LMFT | Best for faith-based therapy
Website
951-888-0152
Jonathan Kane is a licensed marriage and family therapist who believes counseling must be Christ-centered and faith is the foundation upon which therapy is built. He welcomes anyone seeking this type of counseling. Jonathan’s priority is to help individuals and couples reach their goals and overcome obstacles that have become barriers in their lives. He’s been practicing for eight years and offers a sliding fee scale.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Marital and Premarital, Relationship Issues, Family Conflict | ACI Specialty Benefits, Beacon, Champus/VA, Cigna, HMC Healthworks, Harrington Health, Health Net, Inland Empire Health Plan, MHN, TriWest | Cost per Session: $120+/session | Yes | Yes |
Angie Garita: M.S., LMFT, LPCC | Best for overcoming obstacles
Website
951-892-0155
Angie Garita is a bilingual licensed marriage and family therapist and licensed professional clinical counselor helping clients overcome obstacles by identifying and maximizing their strengths.
What patients say: “Angie is non-judgmental, knowledgeable, and talks to you like a friend. She offers you perspectives that you may not have considered, supports you through your own self-exploration, and overall makes you feel safe talking to her about anything.”
Kerry McCoy: M.S., LMFT | Best for relationship issues
951-233-6923
Kerry McCoy is a licensed marriage and family therapist and trained in emotionally focused couples therapy. She works with couples on infidelity, trust, and communication issues, encouraging them to break old patterns in their relationships to rebuild a stronger bond.
What patients say: “I can’t say enough wonderful things about Kerry. She has helped me tremendously over the years … She’s warm, empathetic and so incredibly helpful.”
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Anxiety, PTSD, Relationship Issues | N/A | Not provided | No | Yes |
Shawnnell Pugh: B.A., M.S.W., LCSW | Best for trauma resolution
951-433-7104
Shawnnell Pugh at Enerje Wellness is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in providing therapy to individuals who feel shattered by traumatic experiences in their lives. She helps clients quit pushing aside or ignoring their trauma and instead deal with and resolve it. Shawnnell also helps with secondary vicarious trauma, work stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout and offers a sliding fee scale.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Anxiety and Depression, Couples Counseling, Child and Family Services, Substance Abuse Prevention, Trauma Resolution | Cigna, PPO as an Out of Network Provider, Out of Network | Cost per Session: $80 – $175/session | Yes | Yes |
Jacqueline Ashley: D.S.W., LCSW | Best for coping with challenges
Website
323-688-5156
Dr. Jacqueline Ashley is a licensed clinical social worker who’s spent 10 years helping clients enhance their ability to work through life’s challenges and build resilience by learning healthy coping and problem-solving skills and unlearning unhealthy thinking and behaviors. She’s passionate about empowering her clients to create positive change by handling the past, managing the present, and facilitating their ability to cope with future challenges.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Anxiety, Stress, Depression | N/A | Cost per Session: $200/60 minute session | No | Yes |
James (Jim) Husen: Psy.D., Esq., LMFT | Best for parenting issues
Website
951-781-8985
Dr. Jim Husen is a licensed marriage and family therapist who focuses on parenting and co-parenting issues. He also performs reunification therapy and child custody evaluations. Dr. Husen has been working with individuals, couples, and families for six years and offers a sliding fee scale. He believes in collaborating with his clients using various psychotherapy methods to explore more effective problem-solving.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Individuals, Couples & Families, Anxiety, Depression, Anger Management, Relationship Issues, Parenting, Stress Reduction, Life Goals & Identity Issues, Cognitive Focus & Restructuring, Sexual Problems, Internet Addictions | N/A | Not provided | Yes | Yes |
Tanika Gayle: Psy.D. | Best for intimacy issues
Website
951-682-1488
Dr. Tanika Gayle is a clinical psychologist with a special interest in treating individuals and couples with intimacy issues, including providing sex therapy. She offers a sliding fee scale.
What patients say: “Dr. Gayle has helped me immensely in navigating depression and anxiety. Her guidance helped me during my roughest moments and have made me more confident in myself and more confident in the decisions I make.”
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Couples Therapy, Sex Therapy, Child Counseling, Individual Therapy, Play Therapy, Family Therapy, Coping & Adjustments, Pain Management, Anger Management, EMDR, Group Therapy | Anthem, IEHP, Victims of Crime, Blue HMO/PPO, Cigna, Delta, Open Path, Magellan, Managed Health Network/MHN/HealthNet, MH NET, Exclusive Care, Veteran’s Choice, Lyra, UCSHIP (UC Riverside) | Cost per Session: $250-$180/45 minute session | Yes | No |
Jenna Marie Mendez: M.A., LPCC, NCC, NCSC | Best for children
Website
951-239-4103
Jenna Mendez is a licensed professional clinical counselor and certified school counselor experienced in working with children of all ages, from toddlers to adolescents. She’s passionate about helping children, adolescents, and young adults grow and thrive. Jenna understands their unique challenges and strives to provide a safe, fun, and caring environment for them to explore their feelings and work towards a happier, healthier future.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Child or Adolescent, Grief, Anxiety | ACI Specialty Benefits, Magellan, Out of Network | Cost per Session: $100 – $120/session | No | No |
Jessica Hernandez: AMFT, APCC | Best for self-awareness
Website
951-480-8653
Jessica Hernandez is an associate marriage and family therapist and associate professional clinical counselor who promotes self-awareness as a vital part of living and healing. Her goal is to help clients become more self-aware and gain better control of their life stories through counseling. Jessica works with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. She has been practicing for three years and offers a sliding fee scale.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Adjustment difficulties, Anxiety, Boundaries, Communication and conflict resolution, Christian counseling, Depression, Fertility challenges, Grief and loss, Identity/sense of self, Life transitions, Marital and premarital counseling, Multicultural concerns, Parenting support, Perinatal mental health (mental health concerns during pregnancy and postpartum), Relationship concerns, Religion and spirituality, Self-esteem, Stress and coping skills, Women’s issues, Work and career concerns | N/A | Cost per Session: $60/50-minute | Yes | Yes |
Lee Shaw: M.A., LMFT, CAADE, LLC | Best for bilingual clients
951-500-9658
Lee Shaw is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has been providing bilingual (Spanish and English) counseling since 1989. He loves working with and supporting children, adults, couples, and families and offers a sliding fee scale.
What patients say: “Lee is an amazing therapist. Kind, compassionate, intelligent. Having him at my side while going through a horrible period in my marriage was crucial to my sanity.”
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Anxiety, Borderline Personality, Depression | Beacon, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, BlueCross and BlueShield, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, Inland Empire Health Plan, Kaiser, Kaiser (Out-of-Network), MHN, Medi-Cal, MultiPlan, Optum, TRICARE, TriWest, UnitedHealthcare, VA, Out of Network | Cost per Session: $50 – $240/session | Yes | Yes |
Ilese Buchanan: M.S., LMFT, EMDR | Best for trauma/PTSD
Website
951-274-0090
Ilese Buchanan is a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in helping clients struggling with trauma and/or PTSD. She believes in the mind’s ability to aid in healing, but individuals may need an intervention to start the process. She helps facilitate the process with EMDR therapy to target the negative messages associated with a client’s past that are disrupting their present, so they can begin healing.
| Specializations | Insurance | Cost | Sliding scale | Remote services |
| Marital and Premarital, Relationship Issues, Spirituality | N/A | Cost per Session: $50 – $70/session | No | Yes |
III. What You Should Know About Riverside Therapy
How are Riverside therapists licensed?
California’s Board of Behavioral Sciences requires a 60-credit master’s degree or doctorate in counseling or psychotherapy for licensure. Applicants must register as an associated professional clinical counselor and complete at least 3,000 hours of supervised clinical counseling experience. They must pass the California Law and Ethics Exam and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination before applying for a licensed professional clinical counselor credential. Applicants can also take steps to earn their LCSW or LMFT credentials.
How much does therapy cost in Riverside?
The overall cost of therapy in Riverside hinges on several factors. Most therapists charge per session, but session rates vary based on session length and whether it’s individual, couple, family, or group therapy. About half of the therapists listed take some insurance plans, and more than half of them offer a sliding fee scale. These therapists charge between $50 and $250 per session, which averages out to $150.
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IV. Sources
- California Board of Behavioral Sciences | Last accessed April 2025
- National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination | Last accessed April 2025
- National Counselor Examination | Last accessed April 2025