Susan Jester, LMFT

Susan Jester is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with 31 years of clinical experience. She employs evidence-based approaches to support people facing depression, anxiety, relationship challenges, and trauma recovery, drawing on long experience helping clients move through complex life transitions and emotional crises.

Her work reflects a strong focus on older adults, women's issues, caregiver stress, and the emotional effects of chronic health conditions and midlife change. She pays close attention to attachment patterns and communication habits, and she helps clients explore how family of origin issues, infidelity, grief, and post-traumatic stress shape present-day relationships and mood.

Susan creates an empathic, collaborative therapeutic relationship where individuals can examine their emotional landscape, build coping skills, and strengthen resilience. She works with a wide range of concerns including caregiver stress, chronic pain or illness, postpartum and mood disorders, and recovery from sexual assault and abuse. As a licensed clinician - CA LMFT 31869 - she aims to provide personalized, compassionate care that helps clients identify strengths and navigate life’s most difficult moments.

Evidence-Based Approaches for Online Therapy

Susan Jester frequently uses attachment-focused work to explore how early relationship patterns influence current feelings and interactions. This approach helps people understand connection styles and improve communication and intimacy in relationships.

She also incorporates trauma-informed methods that support recovery from post-traumatic stress and abuse by pacing interventions, validating responses, and helping clients develop coping strategies for overwhelming emotions. In addition, she applies skills-based strategies for anxiety and mood concerns, teaching practical tools for managing stress, regulating mood, and improving daily functioning.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Susan partners with each person to identify goals, assess what methods fit their needs, and adjust the plan over time so therapy remains responsive and relevant.

Online therapy with licensed professionals offers flexibility in how care is delivered. Clients can meet by video call for face-to-face interaction, use phone sessions when video is impractical, or opt for live chat and text-based messaging for more frequent, brief support. These options can make it easier to attend sessions around work, caregiving, or health limitations while maintaining continuity of care.