Brenda Wicks
Compassionate, experienced therapist for life transitions
LMFT California
- Experience
- 23 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Family, Grief
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Brenda
Brenda Wicks is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with 23 years of clinical experience. She works with people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, grief, relationship and family conflicts, trauma and abuse, intimacy concerns, parenting challenges, career questions, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and compassion fatigue.
Background and approach
Her scope also includes issues like abandonment, attachment difficulties, codependency, blended family adjustments, caregiver stress, substance use, and forgiveness work. Her style is warm, interactive, and client-centered, emphasizing respect and sensitivity while avoiding stigmatizing labels.
She blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with elements of client-centered work, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), mindfulness, and solution-focused strategies to tailor treatment to each person. That flexibility allows her to address symptoms, coping skills, emotional processing, and relational patterns as they arise.
Brenda draws on decades of work across multiple mental health settings and has particular experience supporting survivors of violent crime through trauma-related concerns. She frames therapy as a collaborative process and aims to empower clients as they work toward meaningful, practical changes in daily life.
Therapeutic Approaches and Remote Care
Brenda frequently draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and build practical skills for managing symptoms like anxiety, depression, and stress. She also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) techniques to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness when strong emotions or relationship patterns are a concern. In addition, client-centered elements help center the person’s values and lived experience, creating space for empathy and collaborative goal-setting.
Finding the right approach is treated as a collaborative process. Brenda works with each client to explore which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting techniques over time so treatment stays relevant and useful.
Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility for varied schedules and comfort levels. These formats allow clients to access ongoing support from California-based licensed professionals without needing to travel, and they make it easier to integrate therapy into busy lives while maintaining continuity of care.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
23+ years
Licensed
California
Languages
English