Psychodynamic & Jungian Psychotherapy
Psychological Evaluation | EMDR Therapy
Pasadena & Online
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Hello and Welcome!
I’m Akasa, a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY 36410) offering in-person and online psychotherapy based in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California.
My approach is grounded in psychodynamic, relational psychoanalytic, and Jungian traditions, with the integration of EMDR to support the reprocessing of traumatic and implicit memories that may be held in the body beyond conscious awareness.
There are moments when something in life no longer fits as it once did. You may find yourself struggling with emotional distress, persistent symptoms, recurring difficulties in relationships, or a quiet sense of disconnection. At other times, this may emerge through loss, transition, or a pull toward something not yet fully known.
These experiences can feel painful or disorienting—and at the same time, they may carry something meaningful.
Psychotherapy becomes a space where we begin to come into relationship with what has been shaping your experience outside of awareness. Symptoms and patterns that once emerged as protective adaptations and the psyche's efforts to maintain balance can be gradually understood, revealing both what they have guarded against and what they have been attempting to preserve, express, or restore. As emotional experience becomes more available to reflection and processing over time, the possibility for change can emerge in ways that are more grounded and enduring.
In addition to my clinical training, I draw upon several decades of lived experience across business, music, creative fields, integrative healing, and cross-cultural traditions. These continue to shape how I listen and accompany individuals in understanding their responses to life's challenges, developmental transitions, and emotional struggles. Together, we explore the depth and complexity of emotional experience as a source of insight into both the challenges you face and the deeper longings, needs, and possibilities seeking expression through them.
Over time, you may begin to recognize your inner relational matrix as it emerged in response to early and significant experiences. As these previously isolated parts of the psyche enter into relationship with one another, an ongoing inner dialogue can develop, fostering greater reflection and a growing capacity to hold complexity, ambiguity, and emotional depth. This process can gradually shift your relationship to suffering and support movement toward a psychological life that feels more vital and connected, unfolding within its complexity and possibilities.
My Approach
I approach symptoms both as experiences that deserve relief and as meaningful signals that illuminate underlying conflicts and enduring life themes. Anxiety, depression, relational conflict, emotional struggles, psychic emptiness or numbness, and recurring patterns often point to aspects of experience that have not yet been fully processed, symbolized, or understood—and therefore cannot yet be integrated.
For example, many forms of depression are not simply expressions of sadness or grief. They may reflect longstanding struggles around the human needs for connection, belonging, self-worth, and identity. Many high-functioning individuals whose suffering appears depressive are organized around achievement, perfectionism, harsh internal standards, or chronic self-criticism. Yet beneath these struggles there is often a deep longing for recognition, secure attachment, and the experience of being seen, valued, and understood by others.
Our work is collaborative and mutually attuned. Together, we explore how early relationships and lived experiences continue to shape your inner world, creating space for what has been defended against to come into awareness safely and at a pace your system can tolerate.
When trauma or overwhelming experiences are involved, I integrate EMDR to support both insight and nervous system regulation — opening toward a more embodied and flexible relationship with yourself, and greater freedom in how you live and relate.
Individual Therapy Exploring your recurring patterns and tending the roots of your symptoms and challenges.
Couples Therapy Understanding the unconscious dynamics & early history that shape how you relate.
Depth-Oriented Consultation Engaging your relational, somatic, & symbolic depths —and rewriting your story.
Clinical Supervision A reflective space to examine your clinical work through a psychodynamic lens.
Psychological Evaluation & Assessment
In addition to psychotherapy, I provide psychological evaluations and written reports for diagnostic clarification and differential diagnosis, court-related evaluations—particularly Mental Health Diversion Evaluations (California Penal Code §1001.36), ADHD assessments, educational and workplace accommodation evaluations, and personality and psychological assessment. Grounded in the integration of DSM-5 diagnosis and psychodynamic understanding, my evaluations consider developmental history, personality functioning, trauma, attachment, and cultural factors that may contribute to psychological and behavioral difficulties. Learn More
Contact
Beginning therapy is often a recognition that something within is asking for attention. Whether you are navigating anxiety, relational patterns, trauma, or a deeper call toward understanding yourself and your life more fully, reaching out is a meaningful first step.
If you would like to explore whether therapy may be helpful for you, the best first step is to schedule a free 15-minute initial consultation via Zoom. Meeting face to face — even across a screen — allows us to get a felt sense of each other, which a first exchange of words alone cannot quite offer. In our conversation, we will briefly discuss your needs and goals to see if we are a good fit.
To schedule your free initial consultation, please email me with your availability. Email helps us avoid missed calls and get connecting faster. Alternatively, feel free to leave a voicemail including your best callback times, and I will get back to you within one business day.
(818) 806-9311
akasa@drakasatseng.com
Pacific Time — Los Angeles, California
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