About Hope Goss

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist. (My full legal name is Sarah Hope Goss. This is how you will find me through insurance or my licensing board, the Board of Behavioral Sciences.)

I  come to psychotherapy after a career in teaching.  Because of my training as a teacher, I have the ability to translate difficult concepts into easily accessible terms.  I frequently employ my artistry as a “stick-figurist” in conveying ideas with clients.    (Note the fabulous illustrations on this website!)

I have a deep understanding for the difficulties involved in finding one’s place in the scheme of things.  I love the process of psychotherapy because it has helped me personally in understanding how the unresolved issues that I was carrying over from childhood were affecting my relationships with friends, significant others, and authority figures as an adult.  I strongly believe that gaining insight and healing in these areas has helped me, and can help you.  I wish that all world leaders could spend time discovering their personal motivations before getting involved in wars!

In a session with you, I will try to find out quickly what has brought you into therapy.  Together, we will create goals to get you where you want to go.  You will set the pace that is comfortable to you.  For many of us, being really deeply heard is something that we have not experienced before, and it can be extremely healing in and of itself.  Most of us haven’t even learned to listen to ourselves, and frequently don’t know what we really think or what we feel or want.  It is important to me to establish an atmosphere of trust and respect, so that you can allow yourself to know and  say your truth.

I love to learn, and to teach what I have discovered to my clients.  I am dedicated to my own personal journey, and I recognize that a therapist can only take her clients as far as she has come herself!

I received my MA in Counseling through the University of Santa Monica, and I work with an emphasis in Spiritual Psychology.  I am especially drawn to work with people who suffer from depression, anxiety, and trauma. I work with both individuals and couples. My personal interests include reading, walking or hiking, dancing, drawing, travel, and the comics section of the LA Times.

I am a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists(CAMFT),  and of  Long Beach South Bay CAMFT, as well as the EMDR International Association.

My theoretical orientation is Humanistic and Psychodynamic.  I frequently use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and a technique called Brainspotting, which can help clients work through issues at a deep level, and can help promote lasting change.  See “Services” for a more complete discussion of these techniques.  In working with couples, I use techniques borrowed from Dr. John Gottman’s work, and that of Dr. Sue Johnson (Emotionally Focused Therapy).