Erika Rana, LMFT

Erika Rana is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with eight years of experience working with clients from diverse backgrounds. She is licensed in California, where she completed much of her professional training, and she works with individuals, children, couples, and families to address a wide range of concerns.

Her practice includes experience supporting people involved with the foster care system, the criminal justice system, and those receiving treatment for substance use. She has worked with survivors of domestic violence and other forms of abuse, and she has supported clients from LGBT communities, African American and Caribbean communities, and other communities of color. She also has experience working with people in the kink community.

In private practice she has supported clients through spiritual emergencies following challenging psychedelic experiences, integrating those processes with therapeutic work. Erika is a certified yoga teacher and a Reiki master, and she integrates body-based practices and spiritual perspectives when appropriate for the client. Her approach is client-centered and humanistic, drawing on existential ideas, cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness, and attachment-informed perspectives to tailor care to each person’s needs.

Born and raised in Mexico City, she particularly enjoys serving Latino and Spanish-speaking clients and provides therapy in both English and Spanish. She describes her work as a privilege and aims to know, support, and equip clients with tools to reach their goals. Outside of practice she is a mother of two young boys, a cat owner, and values self-expression through art and body art.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Erika draws on attachment-based work to explore how early relationships shape current patterns - this approach helps clients understand connection, trust, and how past attachment experiences influence present relationships. She also uses client-centered therapy, offering a supportive, nonjudgmental stance that centers the client’s own goals and insights and is helpful for building self-understanding and resilience. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is another frequent tool in her work, involving practical strategies to identify and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that contribute to anxiety, depression, and stress.

Choosing a therapeutic approach is a collaborative process. Erika works with each client to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adapts strategies over time as progress and challenges arise.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, offering flexibility for scheduling and different modes of communication. These formats make it easier for clients to access licensed professionals from home or other convenient locations, accommodate busy schedules, and support consistent engagement in therapy.