Call or Text Today 818-979-0065, info@awakentherapycenter.com
Our TEAM
Lauren Costine, Ph.D.
Dr. Lauren Costine, "Dr. Lauren" Licensed Clinical Psychologist, is the Clinical Director and co-founder of Awaken Therapy Center. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and has been practicing in Los Angeles for over 20 years. Through her experience, Dr. Lauren has learned that digging into the hidden, unconscious parts of oneself and bringing them to the forefront of our awareness has a transformative impact on our ability to manage the intricacies and challenges of life. She believes that through developing this self-awareness, we can access the avenues that lead us towards greater inner peace joy. The everyday challenges of being human often hold too much power over our self image, our relationships, and our ability to pursue our dreams. In tackling issues like trauma, family trouble, toxic societal messages, misogyny, internal and external homophobia, racism, etc., we can orient ourselves towards these paths of progress, and free ourselves from the limitations that have been weighing us down. The kind of therapy that Dr. Lauren practices has resulted in her patients seeing tangible changes in their lives: things like stronger sense-of-self, healthier relationships, sustainable coping mechanisms, more enjoyable parenting, and higher career satisfaction. When self-care becomes a way of life, we find ourselves as more balanced individuals with a firmer grasp on our life's meaning and purpose. As a therapist, Dr. Lauren finds it incredibly fascinating, inspiring, and rewarding to support individuals through this process. PSY# 22916
Diana Chavez Ketterman, Ph.D.
Dr. Diana Chavez Ketterman, "Dr K" is a Clinical Psychologist. Growing up Latinx in Los Angeles, Dr. K brings a unique multicultural lens to her work. She received her Ph.D. from UC Riverside and has been practicing for over 38 years as a school psychologist before training to become a clinical psychologist. Dr. K believes that speaking with a nonjudgmental, caring, and interactive psychologist is vital to feeling better about the challenges and difficulties people face in their lives. She enjoys working collaboratively with all ages. Dr. K creates a supportive and comfortable environment for her patients using kind, honest feedback and a soft touch of humor. As a team, she works with the individual or couple to meet them where they need help, using evidence-based counseling methods and life coaching tools to work through various issues. She believes that anyone has the potential to achieve their life goals: through developing inner wisdom, we can heal, confront our challenges and limitations, and access greater happiness and success. Her specialties include but are not limited to psych assessments for learning/emotional disabilities, ADHD, ASD-autism spectrum and personality traits, and couples counseling based on Imago’s 12-week coaching model (with much success). As a family success coach and educational advocate, she uses effective strategies to guide parents and individuals with academic and behavioral challenges. She can also work as a team with other mental health professionals, teachers, and agencies to support individual and familial goals. License PSY# 33769
Dolores Arevalo, lcsw
Hi, my name is Dolores, and I am a bilingual Latinx Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I am compassionate, patient, and use play and curiosity to get to know my clients while providing a safe non-judgmental space for them to heal and grow. I approach therapy from a trauma-informed, client-centered, and culturally competent perspective. In order to help my clients live authentically and reach their goals, I use an integrative approach incorporating interventions from strengths-based approaches and various evidence-based practices, while also bringing in principles from solution-focused therapy, motivational interviewing, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help increase awareness of negative thought patterns and problematic behaviors so they can change. I have experience in treating children, adolescents, and adults with trauma-related disorders, bipolar and depressive issues, anxiety, grief, crisis intervention, and LGBTQ+ issues. Additionally, I have extensive experience using parenting training skills learned through the Positive Parenting Program, Triple P, to help assist parents to build strong, healthy relationships to help manage their children’s behavior and build stronger family systems. I am honored to help guide my clients through their life challenges and witness their journey. LCSW #85252
Lisa Wagner, lmft
My name is Lisa and I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I have been working in the psychological field for over twenty years supporting individuals in accessing and living from their authentic selves, where their personal power and full potential lie. I love working with individuals, couples and when parents need to iron out some issues with their adult children.
My focus starts with the belief that we are whole and complete at our core and that this is our natural state. I support and facilitate individuals in having a felt experience of their wholeness and to learn to connect with and live more and more from this Infinite Source, from within. This is the Source of your true power, peace, love, potentiality, and creativity. I do this with a depth of understanding and compassion as I support you in identifying everything that you are not. All of your smaller human/ shadow parts, with their associated misperceptions and erroneous core beliefs, block you from your full potential and joy. When they are held in deep acceptance and understanding, you are able to integrate them into a Unified Whole. Together we explore and uncover what has been stopping you from feeling deeply connected and loved within, which dramatically translates into all of your relationships; your experience of life and everything you do.
I am deeply passionate about helping those I work with access the freedom and love that they deserve and crave. I predominantly work with adults, addressing a wide array of issues and concerns from anxiety and depression, challenges within relationships, chemical dependencies, obsessive-compulsive behavior, as well as any other kind of addictive or debilitating behavior. I look forward to working with you and being a part of your awakening process in coming home to your most Natural Self. LMFT # 40867
Rachel white, lmft
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I take a compassionate and dynamic approach to create a healing space while also creating forward movement towards the life you want for you and your family. My goal is to help my clients develop insight and awareness so that they can create the lasting changes they want in their lives. I treat a wide range of mental health concerns, including anxiety and stress, mood disorders and depression, LGBT individuals, life transitions, adolescent issues, childhood acting out behaviors. I also have extensive training as a family consultant working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or special needs and their families. Together we will find simple strategies that can be incorporated in day to day living for more ease and comfort. LMFT #122106
Rivka Hayman, Associate
Hello there! I’m Rivka, an associate Marriage and Family Therapist. As someone who was once deeply engaged in Orthodox Judaism, but no longer practices it, I am dedicated to helping clients connect with their authentic voice, share their stories, and embrace self-acceptance. My approach focuses on improving overall well-being by tapping into clients' innate strengths and resources. I believe in exploring the unique cultural backgrounds and identities of each individual and understanding the vital role it plays in shaping how they show up in and experience the world around them.
I work with diverse populations, addressing issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship challenges, identity exploration, navigating sexuality, intimacy, grief, and LGBTQIA+ related concerns. Additionally, I assist couples as they navigate difficult conversations and foster secure functioning relationships.
My academic background includes a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Northridge, and valuable training from the Southern California Counseling Center, emphasizing a humanistic and postmodern perspective. I believe that our darkest moments provide great opportunities for growth and transformation. I feel a profound sense of privilege in accompanying my clients through life's challenges and bearing witness to their transformative journey of growth and discovery. AMFT #140593
Anthony Boyd, LPCC
I am a dedicated and experienced mental health therapist passionate about providing inclusive and affirming care to individuals within the LGBTQIA+ community. I earned my Master of Science degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Prescott College, where I developed expertise in person-centered and psychodynamic therapy approaches.
Working from a multicultural perspective, I employ a person-centered approach to gain a holistic understanding of you. Together, we will explore your inner life—both the light and the shadow—through collaboration, curiosity, and nonjudgmental care. I align closely with Jungian theory and utilize psychodynamic therapy to help uncover and understand patterns in your emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. This process fosters individuation and integration, empowering you to embrace your wholeness and move toward becoming the highest version of yourself.
I have a deep interest in incorporating expressive arts into therapy, including writing, journaling, and other creative modalities, as powerful tools for self-discovery and insight. These practices can help you access deeper emotional truths and facilitate healing in a meaningful and personalized way.
I work with adults and teens from diverse cultural backgrounds who are navigating challenges including, but not limited to, LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity, body image, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, grief, sexuality, and personality disorders.
My goal is to create a therapeutic space where you feel seen, heard, and empowered to grow, heal, and embrace your authentic self.
LPCC #16919
Rebecca Samad, LCSW
Hello! My name is Rebecca and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and psychodynamic therapist. I am looking forward to meeting you! I believe in the deep power of relationships, and building a trusting, compassionate, nonjudgmental space together where you can be wholly who you are. With 5 years of experience in community mental health, I have worked with many clients of varying ages and cultural backgrounds, and truly enjoy witnessing my clients’ journeys of self-discovery and healing. Together we can process events in your life that have bothered you and layered over time, and then figure out how those things manifest in your daily life. Sometimes it is hard to notice the world as it is, rather than as it seems. I specialize in working with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, crisis situations, grief, and trauma, as well as parent-child relationships and parenting strategies. I support social and racial justice and human rights, and do my best to acknowledge and understand cultural differences between myself and my clients in order to best serve you. I see adults, adolescents and children, and do individual therapy and family therapy. For children, I utilize non-directive play therapy to encourage them to express themselves in a way that is comfortable and effective for them. If you are ready to explore, reflect, and grow in a way that feels right for you, I am here to accompany you. Let's build a therapeutic relationship that fosters understanding and positive change.
Shana Morse, Lmft
Hi! My name is Shana Morse and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I utilize she/her pronouns and identify as a Black woman. As you know, life can get hard – and we can all use some help when we encounter challenges in our lives. Therapy can be the catalyst to the change you want in your life. I take a collaborative approach to therapy, in doing so I strive to create a non-judgmental, comfortable atmosphere. The foundation of the therapeutic service I offer comes from a Humanistic lens, that is to say, my emphasis is on the whole person and uniqueness of each individual.
I am trained in Mindfulness, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. My work experience is inclusive of children, adolescents, individuals, couples, and families. I specialize in the empowerment of young girls and women while supporting clients from all genders and diverse backgrounds. I further support positive self-esteem, individuals who experience ethnic stressors, queer affirming individuals, and those experiencing relationship issues. Additionally, I work with clients who want support with anxiety, depression, and coping skills.
Clients have mentioned to me that my humorous, open, and interactive style of therapy allows them to speak freely. I believe these are a few characteristics that are important in the therapist-client relationship in order to engage in productive sessions. I am dedicated to fostering a safe environment and working with you to develop a customized plan to improve your quality of life. I look forward to being part of your journey to the life you would like to achieve.
LMFT# 144229
Allison Kaye, LCSW
Hi, I am a licensed clinical social worker specializing in Aging & Disability. I build collaborative partnerships with older adults, people with disabilities, and their families. My specialties include counseling to older adults, caregivers, people with disabilities, and the LQBTQ community. I serve adult children worried about their aging parents/loved ones. My passion targets two-generation, geriatric families. This diverse population is often hidden from the formal service industry. In addition, I assist with challenges faced by vulnerable populations of adults experiencing worldwide trauma, most paramount over the past few years with the Covid-19 pandemic.
My interactive holistic approach views the entire family as one entity. I am dedicated to supporting individual families to successfully negotiate complex systems, including social service entitlement benefits, economic resources, legal resources, and long-term living options,
LCSW #26352
Arlyn Osborne, lmft
Hi. I’m Arlyn, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I look forward to getting to know you. Most recently, I was a therapist at a Rural Indian Health clinic as well as at an organization that assists survivors of family and sexual abuse to reclaim and rebuild their lives. I believe the brain constantly seeks healing and balance. In my experience, no matter what happens to a person, the deepest parts of oneself hold wisdom and strengths. Once we accept, appreciate, and access more of what’s inside of us, we can grow into the life we want and into our unique selves. I work from a client-centered, culturally competent, and strengths-based perspective. I meet you where you are; we identify your needs, perspectives, wisdom, and strengths, and collaborate on the goals you set for therapy. I provide a non-judgmental therapeutic space and I am experienced working with anxiety, depression, life transitions, PTSD, complex trauma, grief, aging, maintaining recovery, parenting, LGBTQ++ concerns, attachment, and relationship, among other issues and concerns. I am trained in evidence-based modalities such as EMDR and DBT. I am also trained in Internal Family Systems Therapy, and a combination of insight, mindfulness, short-term, and integrative methods. I will help you build skills, self-compassion, self-awareness and understanding. You will learn techniques to cope with symptoms, or we can go more deeply so you can work to heal underlying issues causing you distress. LMFT# 109608
VANESSA COSTINE
Hi! I’m Vanessa, Awaken Therapy Center Client Coordinator. With a passion for client relations and trust in what we do here at Awaken, you can count on me for any questions you may have through the process of getting started. My priority is to ensure that you feel comfortable, worry-free, and connected to the best fit therapist for your needs. I’m looking forward to working with you and getting you scheduled soon!