Tara Hitchcock is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist.  Her purpose is to cultivate a warm and collaborative space for emotional resilience and personal growth for individuals, teens, and families.  She has her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State University Fullerton and her Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology Emphasis in Marriage Family Therapy from Pepperdine University.  

 

Tara has worked with a diverse set of populations and strives to practice cultural humility to better understand how she can support clients in their journey.  She has experience in working with adolescents and teens in a youth diversion program in South Orange County.  She also has a passion for fostering connection and authentic expression in her group work, with experiences in facilitating peer support groups.  She also has helped adults through Healthy Gamer, an online peer support company that works with video games, social media, and internet addiction.  These challenges can range from depression, anxiety, loneliness, social identity, and relationships.  

 

Her emphasis is exploring a client’s rich inner world while helping unburden those parts of self-doubt, relationship wounds, and shame.  She is trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), a type of therapy that is used to treat trauma such as PTSD and other distressing memories that can result in anxiety or other phobias.  She also utilizes other types of modalities such as ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), IFS (Internal Family Systems), and EFT with couples.  She abides by the Platinum Rule, treating others the way they want to be treated.  Each person is filled with their own incredible blend of connections, perseverance, and values.   Therapy is to empower those to make that meaningful change.  

 

In her free time, Tara has a couple categories of how she likes to spend it.  When she wants to improve her physical strength, she likes to go rock climbing or take a HIIT workout class.  When she has a creative burst, building a DIY miniature set or writing fiction.  When her social battery has not run out, grabbing a boba tea or watching an art house film with friends.  When her social battery has run out, playing video games or watching anime or a movie from the watchlist.