Therapy for Adults based in California
Therapy for adults navigating trauma, anxiety, panic, depression, grief, and burnout — with real tools, not just talk.
LIFE DOESN'T look or feel THE WAY YOU WISH IT DID.
Something brought you here. Maybe it's the anxiety that won't quiet down. Maybe it's grief that hasn't found its shape yet. Maybe you're exhausted in a way that sleep doesn't fix. Or maybe you've just hit a point in life where the way you've been coping isn't working anymore.
Whatever it is, you don't have to figure it out alone.
I'm Javier, and I work with adults — men in particular — who are ready to deal with what's actually going on underneath, using approaches that are structured, evidence-based, and built around your life, not a script. That includes working with the mind and the body — because trauma and stress don't just live in your thoughts, they live in your nervous system too.
Who I Work With…
I see adults of all backgrounds and genders, and I have a particular expertise in men's mental health — because men often come to therapy later than they'd like, after trying to push through on their own. If that's you, you're not behind. You're right on time.
Just as often, I work with women navigating the same struggles — trauma, anxiety, burnout, big life transitions — who are looking for a therapist who brings structure, warmth, and real tools to the work.
I work with adults navigating:
Trauma and PTSD
Anxiety and panic disorder
Depression
Grief and loss
Major life transitions
Burnout
MY NAME’S JAVIER
Trauma Informed Therapist
I became a therapist because I wanted to work with people who are ready to do the work — not just talk about doing it. Over the last 15 years, I've helped hundreds of individuals reclaim balance in their lives, with a focus on trauma, anxiety, panic disorder, depression, and the kind of quiet burnout that builds up when someone's been "handling it" for too long.
My approach is integrative — I don't rely on a single method for every person, because trauma doesn't show up the same way twice. Combining approaches like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Internal family Systems (IFS), and somatic and polyvagal-informed techniques allows treatment to address trauma on multiple levels at once: the thoughts, the nervous system, and the parts of you still carrying the weight of what happened. This integrative approach is well-supported by research and, in my experience, tends to move people forward faster and more durably than any single method used alone.
I also bring a perspective that's still relatively rare in this field: I'm a male therapist working extensively with men's mental health. Men remain underrepresented among therapists, and many male clients tell me it changes the conversation to work with someone who understands their experience firsthand, without having to explain or translate it first. That said, my practice is not limited to men, and men's mental health is only one part of what I do.
Meet your therapist
MY approaches
I'm trained in several evidence-based approaches, and I draw from whichever fits what you're bringing into the room:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — for the patterns of thought and behavior that keep anxiety and depression in place
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) — for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and building a life that feels workable
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) — for processing trauma and disturbing memories that talk therapy alone hasn't resolved
Prolonged Exposure Therapy — for PTSD and avoidance patterns that have taken over more of life than they should
Internal Family Systems (IFS) — for understanding the different parts of yourself in conflict, especially useful for those who feel "stuck" between competing instincts
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) — for building the kind of present-moment awareness that makes everything else in therapy more effective
Polyvagal Theory — for understanding how your nervous system moves between states of safety, activation, and shutdown, and how to work with it rather than against it
Somatic-informed interventions — for the parts of stress and trauma that live in the body and aren't fully reachable through talk alone
I'm not attached to one method for every person. Some issues respond well to structured, skills-based work. Others need a slower, more processing-oriented approach, or attention to what's happening in your body and nervous system, not just your thoughts. We'll figure out what makes sense together.
SPECIALTIES
Trauma & PTSD
Trauma doesn't always look like flashbacks and nightmares. Sometimes it looks like being on edge all the time, avoiding certain people or places without quite knowing why, or feeling numb in situations that should mean something. I use EMDR and Prolonged Exposure Therapy — two of the most well-researched trauma treatments available — to help you process what happened so it stops running the show. I also draw on polyvagal theory and somatic-informed techniques to help you understand and work with your nervous system's responses, since trauma is often held in the body as much as the mind.
Anxiety
Anxiety can feel like a low hum in the background of everything, or like a full system shutdown when it spikes. We'll work on understanding what's driving it and build practical skills to manage it — using CBT and DBT tools that actually hold up outside the therapy room, along with mindfulness practices and body-based techniques that help regulate anxiety in the moment, not just after the fact.
Panic Disorder
Panic attacks can feel like something is seriously wrong with your body, even when medically nothing is. That fear of the next attack often becomes as exhausting as the attacks themselves. We'll work on understanding what's happening in your body during panic, build skills to interrupt the cycle, and — when helpful — use exposure-based approaches to help you stop organizing your life around avoiding the next one.
Depression
Depression often shows up as flatness, disconnection, low motivation, or a sense that nothing quite matters the way it used to. We'll work on rebuilding structure, challenging the thought patterns that keep it in place, and finding your way back to something that feels like living instead of just getting through the day.
Grief
Grief doesn't run on a schedule, and it rarely looks like the five neat stages people describe. Whether you're grieving a person, a relationship, a version of your life, or something harder to name, we'll make space for it without rushing you past it.
Life Transitions
Career changes, relationship shifts, becoming a parent, aging parents, divorce, retirement, moving — big transitions can surface questions about identity and direction that didn't exist before. I help clients navigate these shifts without losing their footing.
Burnout
Burnout isn't just being tired. It's a slow erosion of capacity — cynicism creeping in, motivation disappearing, the sense that you're running on fumes but can't stop. We'll look at what's driving it (not just how to cope with it) and figure out what needs to change — including using mindfulness and nervous system regulation tools to help you actually rest, not just push through differently
Our Process
Together, we outline a path forward that’s realistic, strategic, and tailored to your specific needs.
Plan with Purpose
You’re part of the process. We keep communication open and decisions shared—no black boxes or surprises.
Collaborate Openly
When we deliver, it’s not just a finished product—it’s a solution you can trust, backed by real care and effort.
Deliver with Confidence
here’s how to
GET STARTED:
01
Reach Out
If you are interested in services reach out either by email at javier@innernauttherapies.com or by telephone at (562) 737-5007 to establish a free 15 minute consultation call.
02
Get to work
I offer both in person and virtual sessions. In Person in the Orange County, California area and within the state of California for virtual sessions. We will establish a treatment plan and tailor interventions to best suit your therapeutic needs.
03
See change
I use evidence based therapeutic interventions to help reduce presenting symptoms and improve quality of life. We will monitor your progress in a manner that best suits your needs.
THERAPY THAT MEETS YOU WHERE YOU ARE.
You don't need to have it all figured out before you walk in. You don't need the right words, a clear diagnosis, or a tidy explanation of what's wrong. You just need to be willing to start.
I meet clients where they actually are — not where they think they should be by now. If you need structure and skills you can use this week, we'll build those. If you need to slow down and process something that's been buried for years, we'll go there instead. If your body is holding tension your mind hasn't caught up to yet, we'll work with that too. There's no single path through therapy, and no timeline you're expected to keep pace with.
This is your process. My job is to bring the training, the tools, and the steadiness — and to adjust them to fit you, not the other way around.
Ready to get started?