Kimberly Sullivan , LMFT

Kimberly Sullivan is a licensed marriage and family therapist with two decades of experience in California. She works with people facing anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, trauma, and a wide range of life stressors. Clients often come to her for help with self-esteem, grief, addiction concerns, and challenges related to gender and identity. She practices a focused, skills-based form of cognitive therapy called TEAM CBT, a model she studied intensively beginning in 2019. Kimberly describes the method as direct and practical, using specific interventions to address mood, behavior, and relationship patterns. Sessions are aimed at producing clearer thinking and quicker shifts in how people respond to problems. Kim has applied her approach to many common concerns including eating and sleeping difficulties, parenting strain, anger and impulsivity, and issues tied to chronic illness or caregiving. She also works with people navigating midlife questions, career changes, and isolation or loneliness. Her background includes long-term study and ongoing consultation to refine her work. Outside the office she draws on a varied life: long involvement with horses, ongoing martial arts practice with a fourth degree black belt, and a love of animals that has led her to train two rescue dogs. Those interests shape a hands-on, disciplined, and compassionate style in therapy. People who prefer straightforward tools and a collaborative, action-oriented process may find her approach helpful. Kimberly aims to help clients identify patterns, test new behaviors, and build skills that fit everyday life.

How TEAM CBT and targeted techniques work online

TEAM CBT focuses on changing unhelpful thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and core beliefs through short, structured exercises and feedback. In practice this means identifying specific thinking patterns, testing them with real-life experiments, and using new behaviors to shift mood and relationships; it often helps with depression, anxiety, and relationship difficulties.

Another common component is skills training for coping and emotion regulation. These are concrete tools such as behavioral activation, exposure steps, or communication exercises that people can try between sessions to see steady improvement in daily life.

Choosing the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will work with each person to match techniques to their goals, needs, and preferences and will adjust methods over time as progress is seen.

Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging. Video sessions let people practice new skills together and read nonverbal cues, while phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging provide ongoing support between sessions and can make it easier to send quick updates, homework, or reflections without scheduling a full call.