Anke Kalaiah, LMFT

Anke Kalaiah is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with 15 years of clinical experience. She holds a bachelor degree in German and Social Psychology from Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, and completed a master of counseling psychology at Santa Clara University in 2011. She received her LMFT license in 2014 and has worked with clients across a wide range of clinical settings and cultural backgrounds.

Anke’s clinical focus has included trauma and abuse, domestic and sexual violence, family and marital conflict, divorce and coparenting challenges, blended family dynamics, and parenting difficulties. As an immigrant herself she brings an informed perspective on immigration, expat adjustment, multicultural family concerns, and the stresses of cultural assimilation. She also supports people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, addictions, ADHD, career transitions, and caregiving strain.

Her approach to therapy is intentionally eclectic and client-centered - she sees clients as the experts on their own lives and collaborates to set the direction and goals of work together. Drawing on strengths-based and solutions-focused methods, she uses practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy to help clients identify unhelpful thinking patterns, build emotion regulation skills, and develop interpersonal effectiveness and distress tolerance. Anke offers remote access to counseling from home and encourages anyone considering help to reach out when they are ready to begin the work.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Client-centered therapy centers the client’s own goals and lived experience, with the therapist offering empathy and guidance while clients decide the direction of work. This approach supports people navigating relationship changes, identity questions, cultural transition, and parenting challenges by validating strengths and emphasizing collaboration.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps clients examine connections among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to identify patterns that contribute to anxiety, depression, or unhelpful habits. It offers practical tools for reframing thoughts and testing new behaviors, which can be useful for stress management, mood concerns, and coping with life transitions.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) focuses on building skills in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. These skills can be especially helpful for managing intense emotions, improving communication, and reducing impulsive or self-sabotaging behaviors.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Anke works collaboratively with clients to tailor methods to each person’s needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting techniques as progress unfolds.

Online therapy via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging offers greater flexibility for people balancing work, caregiving, or mobility constraints. These remote options make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, maintain continuity during transitions, and access licensed professionals from different locations.