About Lita
Dr. Lita Carvalho helps people manage phobias alongside common concerns like anxiety, stress, depression, trauma, addictions, and ADHD. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with 20 years of experience.
She speaks English and aims to make first steps into therapy feel less overwhelming. Her style is warm and client-centered. Sessions are built around what each person needs.
She listens first, then helps set clear, manageable goals.
Background and approach
Practical tools are offered alongside space to talk about feelings. Dr. Carvalho uses a mix of approaches to match the issue and the person.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify values and take meaningful action. Elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) help with emotion regulation when stress or intense feelings get in the way.
She brings two decades of clinical work to conversations about parenting stress, grief, intimacy concerns, body image, and career strain. She also supports people facing complex histories such as attachment problems, adoption and foster care issues, and caregiver stress. Her background in research informs a practical, evidence-minded approach to treatment.
Sessions are offered by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging. Costs vary by location and use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time. To begin, a short matching questionnaire is completed and a session is scheduled according to therapist availability.
How her approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts without fighting them and then choose actions that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, phobias, and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can reduce avoidance and improve daily functioning. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers concrete skills for managing strong emotions and improving distress tolerance during hard moments.Choosing the right approach is a team effort. The therapist discusses goals, past attempts, and personal preferences to decide which methods to try. Plans are adjusted over time so the work feels relevant and doable for each person.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face interaction for skill practice and exposure work. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a busy day. Live chat and text messaging support brief check-ins, coaching between sessions, and people who prefer writing. These options make scheduling more flexible and help therapy fit into everyday life.
Questions people ask
What concerns does she address?
What is her therapy style like?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What are her credentials and where is she based?
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Can international clients work with her?
What formats are available for sessions?
How do I start therapy with her?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Imago Relationship Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.