Lauren Furutani, MA, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and serves as Executive Director at Michelle Harwell Therapy. Lauren is an advocate for emotional, physical, spiritual, and social health. She blends her psychodynamic and relational orientation with her down-to-earth personality to bring both complexity and ease to the therapeutic space. She frequently enjoys laughter with her clients and genuinely engages them in the search for deeper understandings of themselves and their relationships.
Lauren received her MA in Counseling Psychology from National University and BA in Psychology & Social Behavior from University of CA Irvine. She is well-versed in working with teens and adults on issues related to family conflict, trauma, sexuality, faith, and addiction. Many couples have found Lauren to be helpful in navigating relational conflicts and restoring their intimacy. Lauren grew up in Los Angeles and highly values the diversity of its people. She welcomes clients of all ethnic and faith backgrounds, as well as those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Pilar Haile-Damato, MFA, LCSW works with her clients to develop insight, heal trauma, and reduce suffering using a goal-oriented, holistic, and intersectional approach. She believes that change occurs through understanding the influence of past experiences on current behaviors, working with clients to identify opportunities for growth, and challenging distorted thoughts and unhelpful behaviors. Individuals and couples have appreciated Pilar’s attunement, warmth, sense of humor, and inclusivity. She supports her clients in expanding their self-understanding while honoring their cultural experiences and identities.
Pilar is oriented in social justice and influenced by Eastern philosophies, a Liberation Health Framework, and anti-oppressive/feminist theories. She welcomes clients of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as QTPOC and all LGBTQIA identified folks. She has extensive experience working with issues of racial identity development and healing racial trauma.
Pilar received her Masters in Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work. She has a BA in political theory and sociology from Bard College and an MFA in social documentary film from The School of Visual Art. Pilar is the Clinical Care Coordinator and works to support our clinicians growth and well-being. She is the Clinical Care Coordinator and works to support our clinicians growth and well-being.
Lisa believes deeply in the power of the therapeutic relationship to provide a space of healing and hope. In her work with children, adolescents, adults, and families, Lisa has found that in developing self-understanding and exploring the deeper meanings of what is noticed in relationships there is great potential for moving through difficulties and discovering a place of greater wholeness. Curiosity and presence are key ingredients in enriching such a therapeutic journey. She seeks to join with clients, appreciate and build on their strengths, and support them in freeing up their inner resources towards creating new possibilities in themselves, their relationships, and the communities in which they reside.
Lisa is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. She earned MA and EdS degrees in Community Counseling from James Madison University, and her BA in Sociology and English from the University of Virginia.
Lisa has trained in relational, family systems, object relations, attachment and trauma focused approaches, and is committed to ongoing growth and development. She has experience in community, in-home, and school based settings. She has supported clients in addressing concerns and transitions in relationships and family life, anxiety, depression, grief, and trauma, among other issues. Lisa is the Child & Family Team Lead at Michelle Harwell Therapy.
Sarah Butcher is constantly reminded that we all seek to make meaning out of the human experience, from seeking to understand our fears, insecurities, and wounds, to making sense of our moments of joy, anticipation, and contentment. As a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Sarah believes that healing happens in the context of genuine relationships. Therapy is a place where people can explore and work to understand their relationships, motivations, experiences, and emotions in a safe environment, while growing in self-awareness and capacity for fulfilling relationships.
Sarah received her MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology and her BA in Social Science from Westmont College. She has experience in community-based, in-home, and school settings. She has worked with clients dealing with a variety of issues including depression, anxiety, grief and loss, relationship issues, and life transitions. Her specialties include working with children, teens, new and postpartum parents, and young adults. Her work with children in developmental play therapy led to her certification as a DIR Intermediate Floortime provider. Sarah has also worked as a career counselor and is certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory.
Isabel is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who believes that historical, political, social, and cultural environments influence the way we navigate the world and shape how we relate to others. Isabel's approach to therapy is person-centered, relational, and integrative. Her intention is to assist people to gain deeper understanding around unhelpful patterns and behaviors so that growth, self-development and empowerment can occur. She is passionate about using therapy to explore how intergenerational experience impacts mental health, relationships and attachment patterns and strives to help build insight and resiliency around this connection. Isabel uses authenticity, directness, and a collaborative approach to create a safe environment for enriching and transformative work. Isabel is LGBTQIA+ affirming and kink, poly, and sex worker allied.
Isabel is a Los Angeles native with a Masters in Social Work from USC and a BA in Literary Studies with a focus on postcolonial poetry from Eugene Lang College at the New School. She has spent the last decade working with teenagers, young people and adults who are impacted by complex relational and systemic trauma and homelessness. Isabel has extensive experience supporting those impacted by depression, anxiety, substance use, and issues related to identity and transition. She has supervised interdisciplinary teams of staff and provided training on self-care, burnout and secondary trauma for those in helping professions.
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” ―Lao Tzu
Betsy supports her clients on their paths towards authentic selfhood by exploring their truths and strengths. Betsy carefully considers the cultural context and lived experience of her clients when helping them navigate the complexities of their stories and relationships. Her tenured professional background in the arts also informs Betsy’s approach to her therapeutic work — she joins her clients in a creative process of meaning-making and change. She brings warmth and attunement to this emotional-relational alliance while cultivating buoyancy and building habits of change, insight, and resilience.
Betsy integrates postmodern, psychodynamic and emotional-relational modalities into her practice. She additionally draws upon eastern philosophies and depth psychologies which emphasize holistic and multicultural perspectives. In community mental health, she served a diverse population, with a broad range of challenges including anxiety, depression, somatic, developmental and life transitions, parenting, identity development, inter/intrapersonal concerns, attention, complex-grief, and trauma. Betsy welcomes clients facing secondary issues of autoimmune disorders, fertility, and postpartum. She currently works with individuals in all stages of life, couples, children and adolescents and is committed to tailoring therapy for her clients.
Betsy is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #148334 She received her MA in Marriage and Family Therapy with a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Specialization, from Pacific Oaks School of Cultural Psychology and a BA in Psychology from Clark University. She has completed additional education in early childhood development, parenting life skills and play and sand tray training.
Hailee is passionate about the journey to self-discovery and empowerment. She views therapy as a collaborative relationship that focuses on supporting you in building confidence to navigate life's ups and downs.
With a passion for uncovering the depth within, Hailee hopes to guide you toward the exploration of your wants, needs and desires through nurturing a strong self-connection in service of moving through life with a deeper understanding of motivations.
Hailee’s approach embraces humor and humanness, a focus on meeting you where you are in your journey and using relatability and compassion to empower change. Her goal is to support you in unlocking personal insights that can transform relationships, transitions, and open up your creativity.
Hailee is a Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist #133440, practicing under the professional supervision of Michelle Harwell, PsyD, LMFT #50732. She received her MA in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Child Studies from Antioch University and a BA in Drama Studies from Ithaca College.
Keren believes that relationships are often the source of our deepest pain and the context for our transformation and healing. Using cultural humility and compassionate attunement, she creates a nurturing space where her clients can explore their inner struggles, share their stories, and discover their authentic selves. As a companion on the journey towards healing, Keren uses a therapeutic approach that honors the intersecting parts of her clients by bringing awareness to mind, body, spirit, and cultural identity.
Keren has experience working in community mental health, where she led multi-disciplinary teams in providing services to children, teens, and families facing a broad range of behavioral and mental health challenges that profoundly impacted their ability to thrive. Her clients appreciate her ability to provide a soft and safe space when life feels so chaotic and daunting. As a Latina therapist, Keren works with clients from diverse backgrounds, integrating cultural responsiveness into her approach. She provides services in English and Spanish.
Keren is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and Professional Clinical Counselor. She holds a Master of Science in Marital and Family Therapy with an emphasis on Medical Family Therapy from Fuller School of Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy. He has a bachelor's degree in Music and Psychology from La Sierra University.
Shana brings a curious, creative, and collaborative stance to the practice of therapy. She welcomes adults, couples, and children who seek to untangle the knots that stifle connection and growth. She is particularly attuned to help people struggling with the impact of trauma, feeling overwhelmed, life and career transitions, and parenthood. Shana holds space that is deeply informed by cultural sensitivity and allyship. Whether new to therapy or returning, Shana will support you in strengthening resilience and self-compassion.
Shana’s clinical orientation is relational, psychodynamic, and steeped in the understanding that trauma impacts both mind and body. Her grasp of attachment and object relations brings attention to the formative nature of early relationships and the need to heal. At the same time, Shana believes that our stories are shaped by structures of power, language, and our collected contexts, and deepening our awareness of these forces can lead to real change. Therapy is an active, improvisational process that has a transformative potential to re-shape our stories and relationships.
Shana is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor. She trained at the Maple Counseling Center, and holds an MA from Antioch University Los Angeles in Clinical Psychology, an MFA in Art from University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA from Brown University.
Alex Nachlis is a Family Nurse Practitioner with 7 years of experience in primary care and addiction medicine. His work has been primarily in low resource and underserved communities where he takes a holistic approach with care to include the social aspects and economic barriers that contribute to ill health and overall stress.
Alex has worked with both adults and children with a broad range of clinical needs and life circumstances. He has experience treating issues such as trauma, grief, addiction, behavioral change, interpersonal conflict, and the psychosocial factors associated with medical diagnoses. He is interested in helping clients find the confidence to achieve long term goals and successfully navigate personal, familial, social, and professional life.
When not working, Alex prefers to spend time with his family, including 2 young daughters. He is an avid reader and is always learning something new. Alex has traveled extensively and has a love of basketball and music.
Alex received his masters in nursing and public health from Johns Hopkins University and is currently completing an additional board certification as a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner through the University of Cincinnati and practicing under the professional supervision of Dr. Gabrielle Taylor #22054. He also has a Bachelors of Arts in Literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Jessica (she/her) works with adults, children, and couples using a strengths-based approach that helps create insight, foster resilience, and alleviate suffering. She is grounded in the belief that healing happens in relationship, and strives to create a sense of safety in the therapeutic space through warmth, humor, curiosity, and collaboration. She believes that therapy can be a radical act, and that fostering self-compassion, holding complexity, and expanding our awareness of interdependence can help heal not just ourselves, but our communities.
Jessica brings an intersectional perspective to therapy, exploring with clients the nuanced interplay between culture, society and mental health. Her practice is trauma-informed and honors the profound connection between body and mind, employing somatic techniques to deepen awareness of emotions and facilitate healing.
Drawing from her personal experience as an adoptive parent and former foster parent, Jessica has a unique insight into the complexities of adoption, and is deeply invested in providing compassionate care to individuals and families in the adoption constellation. She also works with clients navigating life transitions, careers in the arts, and the often interwoven challenges of parenthood and attachment wounds.
Jessica is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who trained at the Maple Counseling Center and The Relational Center. She holds an MA in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles, as well as an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA, and a BA in English Literature from UC Berkeley.
Helena works to create a reassuring and encouraging atmosphere, allowing for vulnerability and growth to occur even in uncomfortable situations. She believes discovering who you are through this corrective process creates a kind of flexibility and liberation that can help you find the life you want. Through deep introspection and honest communication, Helena aims to facilitate a space for a rich therapeutic relationship to unfold.
Helena has experience addressing a wide range of needs, working with clients of diverse backgrounds within both community based and private practice settings. She has a special interest in working with children and adolescents, recognizing the significance of this pivotal stage in development. By focusing on this formative period, Helena offers care and guidance to young individuals and their families as they navigate the complexities of adolescence together.
Helena is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapy #120807, practicing under the professional supervision of Michelle Harwell, PsyD, LMFT #50732. She received her BA in Psychology and MA in Counseling Psychology from Cal Poly Humboldt.
Michelle Harwell, PsyD, LMFT #50732 is an expert trainer, respected speaker, and licensed therapist in trauma, development, and attachment. She is a certified yoga instructor and seeks to help her clients better understand how the body is often the first speaker to life's experiences: joy, stress, or even trauma. She is noted for her specialization in areas of development, attachment, trauma, and neuroscience, and her ability to communicate complex topics with clarity and humor.
Michelle has worked extensively with adults and children with severe disruptions in early life-care. This includes foster and adoptive families, attachment issues, child development, and healthy parenting. She is an infant mental health consultant for a variety of non-profits and community mental health teams. She is the co-author of Floortime Strategies to Promote Development in Children and Teens: A User’s Guide to the DIR® Model, a curriculum for parents and professionals to help young people with social, emotional, and cognitive challenges.
Michelle completed her doctorate in Psychoanalysis from The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles. She received her BA in English Literature from University of Oklahoma, MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, and MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology.
Visit drmichelleharwell.com for more information.