Marla Gentile, LPC, LPCC

Marla Gentile is a seasoned counselor with four decades of professional experience who holds licensure across multiple states. She is licensed in California, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina and brings 40 years of clinical work to her practice. Marla works with people managing stress and anxiety, those recovering from trauma or abuse, and individuals coping with grief, loss, and significant life changes. She also has experience supporting professionals facing compassion fatigue.

Marla approaches therapy from a strengths-based perspective, holding the belief that each person is the expert of their own story and already possesses resources to move through challenges. Her style emphasizes collaboration and respect for a client’s experience while gently guiding exploration of patterns, emotions, and goals. She recognizes that beginning therapy requires courage and validates the decision to seek help as an important first step.

Marla holds LPC and LPCC credentials, which signify professional licensure to practice counseling and clinical counseling. Based in California, she offers focused support for people navigating difficult transitions, relationship and intimacy concerns, self-esteem struggles, and career-related stress.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Marla integrates attachment-based work into her practice to explore how early relationships shape current patterns. This approach helps people understand intimacy-related issues, abandonment concerns, and family-of-origin dynamics so they can build more secure connections with others.

She also uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for addressing traumatic memories and intense distress related to trauma or abuse. EMDR helps process difficult experiences in a structured way, reducing the emotional charge and improving coping over time.

Client-centered therapy is another cornerstone of her work, emphasizing empathy, respect, and collaboration. This approach supports people facing stress, anxiety, grief, career transitions, or self-esteem challenges by centering their goals and personal wisdom.

Finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the process, and Marla works collaboratively with each person to identify what fits best based on their needs, goals, and preferences. She tailors methods and pacing so the client and therapist can adjust as progress unfolds.

Online therapy options such as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging make it easier to access care from home or while traveling. These formats provide flexibility for scheduling, allow continuity of treatment across locations, and help licensed professionals deliver consistent support to individuals with varying time constraints and life demands.