Allison L. Rees

I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California who came to this work with over a decade of crisis intervention, harm reduction, and community-based care initiative. That kind of work teaches you something: that the people who hold everything together for everyone else are often the ones with the least space to fall apart. I earned my degree in Counseling Psychology and have spent years at the intersection of high-stakes cultures and human breaking points, working with the weight that comes from moral injury, identity, trauma, and the cost of constant vigilance. I work particularly well with therapists, first responders, veterans, healthcare providers, and LGBTQIA+ folks. Anyone who's spent years being the capable one, the reliable one, the one who shows up no matter what. I also have experience as a crisis worker, volunteer firefighter, and supporting folks after critical incidents, which means I'm not coming to this work from the outside looking in. I understand operational culture, the unwritten rules about how you're supposed to hold it together, and what it actually takes to walk through a door like this one. My training + experience includes Brainspotting, TF-CBT, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), and somatic approaches that work with how trauma actually lives in the body and nervous system, not just in your thoughts. I draw on Jungian depth psychology and harm reduction principles too, because the whole person matters, not just the presenting problem. Here's what I want you to know: I get that asking for help doesn't come naturally when you're supposed to be the strong one. I understand that the hypervigilance that once kept you safe might now be keeping you isolated. And I know that sometimes the hardest part isn't the trauma itself, but figuring out who you are when you're not performing competence for everyone else. You don't have to translate your experience into therapy-speak here, and you definitely don't have to pretend you're more okay than you are. I'll give you a sense of how I work and what sessions together might actually look like. If you're curious about specific approaches like Brainspotting or KAP, we can talk about those. If you just want to see if we're a good fit, that's fine too. The first session is as much about you figuring out whether I'm the right person as it is about me understanding how I can help. You don't need to come in with everything figured out. You don't need your trauma neatly packaged or a clear sense of what you want from this. Just show up as you are. Tired, skeptical, guarded, hopeful, whatever. We'll figure out the rest together. ~ SERVICES ~ Individual Counseling · In-person & Telehealth ~ Ongoing one-on-one therapy for PTSD, moral injury, occupational trauma, and burnout. Treatment is tailored to you, drawing on Brainspotting, TF-CBT, and somatic approaches depending on what fits. We move at your pace, not a protocol's. ~ Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy · Specialized modality ~ For clients who have tried conventional approaches to treating depression, anxiety, OCD, and trauma without sufficient relief, KAP offers a different entry point. Ketamine can soften psychological defenses and create space for deeper therapeutic work. The medicine is never the whole treatment. Preparation, the session itself, and integration together are what make it meaningful. ~ WHAT TO EXPECT Most people coming to therapy for the first time, or for the first time with a new therapist, want to know what they're walking into. Here's how it actually goes. Step 01 — Free 15-minute consultation. We talk. I want to hear what's going on for you, and you should be figuring out whether I'm someone you can actually work with. This isn't a sales call. It's a genuine check to see if there's a fit. You're allowed to talk to multiple therapists before deciding. Step 02 — Intake session We spend the first session getting grounded in why you're here and what you're hoping for. I'll ask questions, but I'm not running through a checklist. If something feels relevant to you, say it even if I didn't ask. We move at whatever pace makes sense. Step 03 — Ongoing work Sessions are typically weekly, though we'll figure out the cadence that actually serves you. Some weeks we'll go deep. Some weeks we'll stay near the surface. There will be moments that are hard, and there will probably also be moments that are lighter than you expected. Both are part of the work. Step 04 — Transparency throughout I'll often tell you what I'm noticing, what I'm thinking, or why I'm asking a particular question. I work relationally, meaning the relationship between us is part of the treatment. You're not a case I'm managing. You're a person, and this is a collaboration.