Deana Porter , LMFT

Deana Porter is a licensed marriage and family therapist who focuses on relationship and personal recovery work. She brings 29 years of experience helping people navigate relationship conflict, trauma, intimacy struggles, and mood concerns like depression and bipolar disorder. She approaches sessions with respect, sensitivity, and compassion.

Clients meet a therapist who listens first and then tailors conversations to their situation. Deana uses clear, practical strategies that match each person's goals. She helps people build skills for stress, anxiety, grief, and self-esteem challenges.

Her work also addresses parenting and blended family issues, adoption and foster care questions, and caregiver stress. Communication problems, codependency, commitment worries, and family of origin concerns are common topics brought into sessions. She supports people coping with major life changes and compassion fatigue.

Deana draws on methods such as cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavior therapy skills, the Gottman Method for relationship work, and Internal Family Systems ideas. Those approaches are used to help clients change unhelpful patterns, manage intense emotions, and improve close relationships.

Sessions are offered in English and delivered from California. Deana guides people through practical steps, skill-building, and thoughtful reflection so they can move toward clearer decisions and steadier emotional balance.

Approaches that guide online sessions

CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It can help with anxiety, depression, eating and sleeping problems, and day-to-day stress by teaching practical skills for thinking and acting differently.

DBT, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and better interpersonal skills. It is useful for intense emotions, anger, relationship difficulties, and coping when life feels overwhelming. The Gottman Method offers structured tools for improving communication and resolving conflict in close relationships.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss a client's goals, preferences, and history and then recommend strategies to try. Plans are adjusted over time so the work stays aligned with changing needs.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video meetings work well for deeper conversations and visual cues. Phone sessions can be useful when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Live chat and text messaging suit people who prefer written communication or need quick, on-the-go support. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life while using approaches like CBT, DBT, and the Gottman Method effectively.