BEFORE WE BEGIN.
A FEW THINGS WORTH KNOWING
Every new client begins with a consultation call. This is not an intake process — it is a conversation. I want to understand what has brought you here, and you deserve to know whether this feels like the right fit. I can usually tell within the first few sessions whether we work well together, and I will tell you honestly either way.
I see clients in person and via telehealth. Sessions are available weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on where you are in the work. Fees are discussed on the consultation call.
I do not work from a script or a fixed protocol. I follow you, your body, your history, your readiness. The pace is yours. The direction is ours.
THERAPY
SERVICES
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY
One person. One honest conversation at a time.
Individual therapy is the core of this practice. It is where the most sustained, most personal, and most transformative work happens.
I work with adults who are navigating the gap between the life they have built and the life they actually want. That gap often shows up as chronic anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, people-pleasing, perfectionism, difficulty with major life transitions, or the quiet sense that something important has gone unexamined for too long.
My approach is integrative drawing on Somatic Experiencing, polyvagal theory, attachment work, cognitive frameworks, and spiritual integration depending on what each person and moment calls for. I am trained to read the body as much as I listen to the words, which means we often find what matters faster than traditional talk therapy allows.
Clients describe the experience as unlike anything they have had before. Not because it is easy — but because it is real.
Who This Is For:
- High-functioning professionals who sense that something deeper is available — whether this is their first time in therapy or they have been searching for this kind of work for years
- Adults navigating major life transitions — divorce, career change, empty nesting, health challenges, grief
- Those carrying chronic anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, or patterns that keep repeating despite clear awareness that they are repeating
- Anyone ready to move from symptom management into genuine understanding of the roots
COUPLES THERAPY
Two people. One honest conversation at a time.
Couples work is some of the most demanding and most rewarding work I do. Two people come in carrying their own histories, their own nervous systems, and their own deeply held beliefs about what love should look like — and the work is to help them find each other underneath all of that.
I do not take sides. I hold the relationship as the client. My role is to help both people feel genuinely seen while creating enough safety for the truth to surface — including the truths that are hardest to say out loud.
This work is not about saving a relationship at any cost. It is about helping two people get honest enough with themselves and each other to make a clear-eyed decision about what they actually want, and then building toward that with intention.
Who This Is For:
- Couples navigating a specific rupture or transition — infidelity, loss, major life change, growing apart
- Partners who love each other but keep having the same argument
- Couples who want to do the work before something breaks rather than after
- Two people who are ready to be honest — with themselves and with each other
FAMILYÂ THERAPY
The family system held with care.
Family therapy in this practice is adult-only work. I do not see parents with young children. This is deliberate — the depth of systems work I do requires participants who can engage with complexity, tolerate discomfort, and take ownership of their own patterns. Children are not equipped for that, and I will not put them in that position.
What I do see — and what has become some of the most extraordinary work of my practice — are adult family systems. Adult children in their 30s and 40s coming in alongside parents in their 70s and 80s to do something most people assume is no longer possible: break the patterns that have defined how this family relates to itself for decades.
I have sat with parents who, by every cultural measure, would be considered too old to change — and watched them do exactly that. It is some of the most powerful work I have ever witnessed.
It is never too late. That is not a platitude. I have seen the evidence.
Who This Is For:
- Adult children and their parents navigating estrangement, rupture, or long-held relational patterns
- Adult siblings working through inheritance, caretaking, or the fallout of childhood dynamics
- Families who want to change the legacy before it passes to the next generation
- Any adult family system ready to be honest about what has actually been happening — and what they want instead
SAFE & SOUND PROTOCOL · SSP & RRP
When the nervous system needs more than words.
Some patterns do not respond to conversation alone. They live in the nervous system — in the body's hardwired responses to threat, disconnection, and overwhelm — and they require a different kind of access.
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and the Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP) are evidence-based, non-invasive listening interventions developed from polyvagal theory. Delivered through filtered music via headphones, they work directly with the nervous system to reduce chronic activation, improve social engagement, and create the physiological conditions under which deeper therapeutic work becomes possible.
In plain language: they help the body feel safe. And when the body feels safe, everything else in the work moves faster.
I am certified in both protocols and integrate them into my practice with clients who would benefit — as a stand-alone offering or as a complement to ongoing therapy. I also offer SSP and RRP access to fellow clinicians who want to explore the technology firsthand before introducing it to their own caseloads.
→ What is Safe and Sound Protocol?
→ What is the Rest and Restore Protocol?
Who This Is For:
- Clients with chronic nervous system dysregulation, anxiety, or trauma responses that have not fully resolved through talk therapy alone
- Those experiencing sensory sensitivities, chronic fatigue, or difficulty with social connection
- Fellow clinicians who want to experience the protocol directly and evaluate its fit for their own clients
- Anyone whose body is stuck in a pattern their mind has already understood
A Note for Clinicians:
If you are a therapist or bodyworker interested in the SSP or RRP — for yourself, for a client, or as a potential addition to your own practice — I am available for collaborative consultation. The best way to speak to the work is to have experienced it. Scroll below for more details and we can talk through what that looks like.
“I had the pleasure of working under Lesley's supervision and can attest to her clinical expertise, as well as her genuine compassion for her patients. Lesley is a therapist that works from the heart, and can guide you to deeply heal."Â
— Chloe A. Cox, Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT, MA
CLINICAL CONSULTING
For the clinicians and organizations doing serious work.
I carry one to two consulting clients annually, and I am deliberate about it. This is not a service I offer at scale. It is work I take on when there is a genuine fit: when the questions are interesting, the people are serious, and the intersection of clinical expertise and organizational reality is genuinely complex.
My consulting work sits at the crossroads of clinical practice and the psychological dimensions of leadership and organizational decision-making. I bring the same theoretical depth and honest, direct perspective to a clinical team as I bring to a therapy session — which means I will not tell you what you want to hear. I will tell you what I actually see.
I have worked within and helped build clinical organizations, which means I understand the pressures, the politics, and the blind spots from the inside. I also know, from my own experience, how much fear can masquerade as professional wisdom — and what it costs when it goes unexamined.
Who This Is For:
- Clinical teams and treatment programs looking for an outside perspective on culture, leadership, or case complexity
- Mental health organizations navigating growth, structural change, or burnout at the leadership level
- Clinicians in private practice who want a thought partner on the business, clinical, and personal dimensions of building a practice
- Leaders in adjacent fields — healthcare, education, organizational development — where the psychological dimensions of decision-making matter
How to Begin:
Consulting inquiries are handled directly. Reach out through the contact page with a brief description of what you are navigating and we will schedule an initial conversation to assess fit.
“Lesley’s work with Sustain Recovery came at an important time in our growth as a clinical organization. She brought a thoughtful, steady, and deeply attuned presence that helped our team slow down, reflect, and look more honestly at how we communicate, collaborate, and support one another in the work.
She did not come in with a one-size-fits-all approach. She listened carefully, observed with intention, and offered guidance that felt both clinically grounded and deeply respectful of who we are as an organization. Her work left us with greater insight into ourselves, our team culture, and the kind of clinical environment we want to continue building for our clients, families, and staff.
We are truly grateful for the time she spent with Sustain Recovery and for the meaningful contribution she made to our continued growth.”
— Sayeh Seyedfathi, CEO / Co-Founder, Sustain Recovery
Ready to find out if this is the right fit?
The consultation call is where it starts. Let's have a real conversation with no pressure or obligation. Bring whatever is on your mind and I will bring everything I have.
