Dr. Jillian Barna, LMFT

Dr. Jillian Barna is a licensed mental health professional in California with 19 years of experience supporting people through addiction, stress, anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, and LGBTQ+ issues. She holds the LMFT credential - Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - and practices with an emphasis on meeting each person where they are and honoring the courage it takes to seek change.

Her work often focuses on helping individuals navigate substance use and related mental health challenges, while also attending to attachment, codependency, communication, family of origin matters, and mood-related concerns. Dr. Barna approaches therapy with compassion and respect, viewing the individual as the expert in their own story and partnering to identify practical steps forward.

She aims to help people rediscover hope, build resilience, and create meaningful progress one step at a time. Whether addressing relationship strain, panic symptoms, postpartum challenges, or workplace and identity concerns, Dr. Barna offers steady, experienced support to help clients clarify goals and move toward healthier patterns.

Approaches for Online Support and Skill Building

Dr. Jillian Barna uses client-centered therapy to create a respectful, nonjudgmental space where the client’s perspective guides the work. This approach emphasizes empathy and collaboration, helping people explore values, make choices, and strengthen self-awareness when facing stress, relationship concerns, or identity questions.

She also integrates cognitive behavioral therapy - CBT - which focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and developing practical strategies to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and address addictive patterns. Dialectical behavior therapy - DBT - is used to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness skills, which can be helpful for intense emotions, self-harm urges, or relationship instability.

Finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the process, and Dr. Barna works collaboratively with each person to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She tailors interventions over time rather than prescribing a single path up front.

Online therapy with a licensed professional offers flexible ways to engage in care via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, maintain continuity of care during transitions, and access consistent support from Dr. Barna regardless of location within California.