Macarena Santelices

Macarena Santelices is a licensed counselor with 14 years of professional experience. She holds LCPC and LPCC credentials and practices in California. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, relationship conflict, parenting strain, or life transitions. Her approach centers on collaboration and practical steps. She listens to what matters most and helps clients set clear, manageable goals. Sessions focus on building skills for better mood, stronger communication, and clearer decision making. Macarena draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to notice unhelpful thoughts and change behaviors that keep problems going. She uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy when strong emotions need steadying and practical coping skills. Mindfulness Therapy is offered to help people slow down, notice the present, and reduce reactivity. She often works with issues like low self-esteem, isolation, attachment or abandonment concerns, guilt and shame, and problems with money or life purpose. Caregiver stress, chronic pain or illness, and midlife transitions are also within her stated focus areas. Starting therapy involves a short matching questionnaire and scheduling through the site. Sessions are provided in English, and international clients are not accepted. Costs vary by location and therapist availability, and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

Approaches that guide remote sessions

Macarena uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors that feed anxiety, low mood, or avoidance. That work is focused and practical, often involving simple experiments and skill practice between meetings.

She also incorporates Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. These tools are useful when emotions feel intense or when communication repeatedly causes conflict.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will discuss your goals and preferences and help choose methods that fit your situation. This is a collaborative decision and can be adjusted as work progresses.

The original biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, shorten travel time, and allow check-ins from different locations. Depending on offered formats, sessions can focus on skill-building, planning around life changes, and short practical check-ins to help apply new tools between meetings.