Family Therapy in California
Online family therapy available across California. In-person sessions in West Los Angeles, El Segundo, and the South Bay.
Families come to me for all kinds of reasons — a child who is struggling, parents who are separating, conflict that keeps escalating, or a transition that has thrown everything off balance. Whatever is bringing you here, the goal is to make things better. I work with families in Century City and El Segundo, and online throughout California.
Family Therapist in West Los Angeles and El Segundo
Hi, I'm Tom Andre, a licensed family therapist with over ten years of experience working with families across California. I'm also a husband and a father of an eleven year old, so the challenges families bring to me are anything but abstract. I offer in-person sessions in Century City and El Segundo, and online family therapy throughout the state.
I work with families navigating communication breakdown, co-parenting after divorce, blended family challenges, parent-child conflict, grief and loss, life transitions, children acting out, teenagers who have withdrawn, and families trying to hold things together through genuinely hard circumstances.
My Approach to Family Therapy
When I work with a family, I want to hear from everyone. If there are kids in the room, we start by talking about their skills and talents and everything that makes them fantastic. We're not here to blame anyone or treat anyone as the problem. From there we work together to understand and to put into words some of the things that are happening, and how those things affect the family. The goal is to get family members facing the same direction and working together to face challenges.
Family Therapy in West Los Angeles, El Segundo, and Across California
I offer online family therapy to families throughout California via secure video sessions. If you prefer to meet in person, I have offices in West Los Angeles, convenient for families in Santa Monica, Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Culver City and surrounding areas, and in El Segundo, serving families across the South Bay including Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Playa del Rey.
Who I Work With
Married Couples and Parents
Love is necessary, but it's not always enough to get you through. Parents can have genuinely different approaches to raising kids and both be right, and sometimes the kids have a point too. In our sessions we make sure that everyone is heard, so that everyone can see how their actions are affecting one other. Then we turn our attention to the problem and find a way forward together.
Divorced and Co-Parenting Families
Divorce can test family relationships in unexpected ways. How do you co-parent with someone who sees things completely differently? How do you protect what matters most to your kids while also holding on to what matters to you? These are the questions I work through with divorced and separated parents every day.
Single Parents
Single parents carry a lot, often while navigating multiple relationships at once: their kids, their ex, their own family, new partners. Therapy can help with the major life decisions to be made, create a space to be heard, and provide support and solidarity in difficult times.
Blended Families
There is no right or wrong way to bring two families together. It is going to be hard, and it is going to take time, and trial and error. Therapy can provide an important forum to speak openly, work on the hard parts together, and address problems in a way that is productive instead of divisive.
Families Going Through a Major Life Transition
A move, a divorce, a death in the family, a new baby, a job loss. Transitions stress every family regardless of how solid the foundation is. I work with families to get through those periods intact.
Sibling Conflict
Nobody knows us better than our siblings, and nobody knows better how to push our buttons. We were raised under the same roof, by the same parents, and yet we can turn out completely different. Therapy helps families address those differences and get the relationship to a place where, at the very least, everyone can live with it, and at best, something genuinely much better than that.
Family Therapy for Kids and Teens
When I work with children and teenagers, the last thing I am looking to do is tell you or your kids that something is wrong with them. I am not interested in making a child into the problem, or finding a diagnosis that explains everything away.
I take the position that everyone in the family wants things to get better, and we go from there. My job is to figure out what is getting in the way of that, and help families harness their strengths in order to address it together. I work with children ages 5 and up in person, and 12 and up online.
Online Family Therapy Across California
Most of my clients meet with me online. Teletherapy works well for family therapy, especially for families with busy schedules, parents managing logistics, or family members who are not in the same location. Online family therapy is just as effective as in person as long as everyone in the room is genuinely engaged. Families often find it easier to be honest in a familiar environment, and the flexibility makes it easier to continue to meet consistently. I am licensed in California and work with families across Los Angeles, the Bay Area, San Diego, Sacramento, Orange County and everywhere in between.
In-person family therapy in West Los Angeles and El Segundo:
10 Minutes from:
Manhattan Beach, Playa del Rey, Westchester, Hawthorne, UCLA, Santa Monica, Westwood, Brentwood, Rancho Park, Beverly Hills
15 Minutes from:
Marina del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Gardena, Culver City, Pico-Robertson, Sherman Oaks, Bel Air
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Not always. Some sessions include everyone. Others are smaller depending on what is most useful at that point in the process. We figure out the right structure together as we go.
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Family therapy can help when the same situations keep coming up and are not improving over time. That can look like repeated conflict, tension between family members, difficulty communicating, or situations where one person’s struggles are affecting everyone else.
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Yes. Sometimes the most useful place to start is with the parents. Whether you are trying to get on the same page about how to handle a situation at home, navigating co-parenting after a separation, or figuring out how to approach a conversation with your child, working with just the parents first often makes the most sense.
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I work with ages 5 and up in person, and 12 and up online. For smaller children especially, having the parents in the room is almost always extremely helpful. I will not work with children under 12 without at least one parent present, as my style is focused on conversation instead of play therapy, and most kids under 12 would rather play than talk.
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Yes. Everything discussed in sessions is confidential. There are a few legal exceptions, such as if there is a risk of harm to someone, but outside of those circumstances what happens in our sessions stays between us.
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We typically meet for 50 minutes, but we can arrange longer meetings, especially if time is short or limited.
Common Questions About Family Therapy
Reconnect With Your Loved Ones
I am a licensed family therapist based in Century City and El Segundo, CA
You love your family and would do anything for them. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t regular stressors that need to be addressed. That’s where family therapy comes in.
I can work with your entire family to identify problems, discuss them and uncover solutions that help everyone’s mental health.
Call or text me at (310) 776-5299 or fill out the contact form below to schedule a free consultation. We will have a brief conversation before booking anything so you can get a feel for whether working with me is the right fit for your family.