Lia Salciccia, MFT

Bio and experience

My first foray into counseling was as a peer counselor in high school. After college, I completed two more peer counseling courses. Professionally, my counseling career began after I received a Hypnotherapy Certification in 2000. Shortly thereafter, another hypnotist and myself opened a practice. My clients came to lose weight, stop smoking, experience a guided meditative journey, and heal negative patterns in their thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Quickly I realized how deep and complex the things that I was encountering in sessions was. This spurred me to pursue a career in counseling psychology, starting with a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. This program both allowed me the freedom to pursue the creativity and greater meaning in counseling work and also grounded me with solid tools for clinical practice.

In order to become a licensed psychotherapist in California, you need 3000 hours of clinical practice and direct supervision hours. I earned most of mine while employed at a mental health agency working closely with the Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles County. I worked with adults with chronic and acute mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder providing case management and mental health support services. This population was called high utilizers, meaning they had multiple psychiatric hospitalizations in a year. After that, I worked with at-risk children doing in home family therapy in conjuction with the Department and Family Services. The agency experience taught me a lot about mental illnesses and how to best utilize the system in order for the patient to receive ethical and effective care. Between 2002 and 2006 I also interned at the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic Counseling Center, where I received excellent supervision and was lucky enough to do the kind of work that I'm doing now in private practice-one on one work with people whose already-met basic needs and relatively low level of crisis allow deeper emotional work to take place.

After moving back home to the Bay Area and passing my licensing exams, I began per diem work at a local hospital in the Behavioral Health department, conducting intakes and psychological assessments, coordinating psychiatric hospitalizations, and facilitating therapy groups in the outpatient program. My current knowledge base and network of connections allow me to assist clients with greater mental health needs. I opened the First Street therapy practice in August 2007.

to make an appointment or for a free phone consultation, call

408.806.6609

or email me: lia@firststreettherapy.com