Andrea McLellan

Andrea McLellan is a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in California with 14 years of clinical experience. She approaches emotional and relational difficulties by tracing them back to their roots and helping people become aware of the underlying causes that keep them from recovering their authentic selves.

In addition to individual therapy, Andrea teaches psychology as an adjunct at a university and serves as a court-recognized expert in cases of sexual assault and child abuse. Her forensic psychology consultation work involves collaborating with attorneys who represent court-dependent minors, and she examines the lives of people harmed physically and emotionally within family systems. She has particular experience with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child maltreatment, and elder abuse, and she understands how childhood exposure to family chaos and trauma can affect subsequent generations.

Those experiences motivated Andrea to study family systems theory in depth. While she values justice as part of healing, she also emphasizes that true recovery requires awareness, responsibility, courage, and forgiveness. She guides people through recognizing those elements and applying them to rebuild emotional health.

Andrea favors practical, goal-driven interventions. She frequently uses solution-focused strategies together with Cognitive Behavioral methods to reduce negative symptoms during treatment and to set clear, realistic goals. She reports that many clients prefer this combination because it targets immediate concerns while building longer-term skills.

Andrea also offers a special invitation to modern-day warriors - today’s public servants and first responders - who regularly encounter others’ pain. If increased emotional arousal such as anger, irritability, fear, or depression begins to interfere with social or occupational functioning, Andrea can help identify and implement the steps involved in coming to terms with acute or post-traumatic stress. She speaks from personal experience in this area.

Outside of her professional life, Andrea enjoys nature and outdoor activities including the beach, hiking, bird-watching, and camping. She appreciates the opportunity to support others in regaining the emotional health needed to pursue the life they envision.