Amy Klein Zeff, MA, LMFT
Thank you for taking the time to visit my website. I'd like to share a bit about my experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist, and owner of Lifepath Center for Counseling and Psychotherapy. I am inspired and awed by the courage, honesty, and humbleness of the clients with whom I work. They open up, become vulnerable, understand themselves and the world in new and different ways, realizing that life holds endless possibilities. It is an honor to accompany my clients on their path. It is the most treasured gift I have ever experienced.
Because it is a true privilege to be a part of a client's therapeutic process, I do my best to carry out my role in a sensitive, ethical, professional, and responsible manner. My philosophy is to treat each client as a unique individual; mind, body and spirit. I believe in working collaboratively with clients. Together, a client and I will clearly identify areas where they want to work, then my client can have a full picture of treatment options. I am trained in many different types of therapeutic models and also specialize in Interpersonal Neurobiology. Interpersonal Neurobiology is an interdisciplinary view of the mind and how it interacts with the body, feelings and behaviors, perception of oneself, and the interplay of interaction with others and the world at large.
I see clients of all ages, with varying issues. My clients include couples, individual adults, young adults, teens, people coming for pre-marital therapy, parents wanting parenting consultation sessions and parents wanting mediation who are separating/divorcing, families, pre-teens, children, groups for young adults, groups for teens, a parenting group, and a meditation group. My clients represent diverse backgrounds, genders, and LGBTQ.
In addition to my private practice, The Teen, Young Adult and Family Program of the West Valley was founded in 1999 out of a need for community among young people and their parents. Groups for pre-teens, teens, and young adults meet weekly. There is also a group for parents that meets for ten weeks on a weekly basis. This group is designed to lend support and to give parents an understanding of child development from a interpersonal neurobiology approach and "attachment theory".
I have heard it said that steel under the heat of fire increases its durability. Perhaps with people, our durability increases our flexibility as we learn from the path of our life, thus, increasing our compassion, opening our hearts to an even greater ability to love.
Some of the issues people come to see me for are:
- Depression and Anxiety
- Trauma / Posttraumatic Stress
- Anger Issues / Aggression / Defensiveness
- Stress Management
- Conflict Resolution
- Relationship Problems
- Infidelity
- Adolescent Issues
- Loneliness
- Self Harming Behaviors / Skin Picking
- Parenting and Family Issues
- Post Partum Depression
- Teens returning from or transitioning out of treatment programs, boarding schools, and wilderness programs - The Family Transition
- Medical and Health concerns / Caregiving - chronic illness, BRCA genetic predisposition for breast and ovarian cancer, heart issues, bypass surgery, diabetes, Lyme Disease
- Raising Difficult Children
- Bereavement, Grief and Loss
- Infertility and Miscarriage
- To Separate or Not ?
- Divorce -- Amicably
- Artist Block / Creative Work
- Work and Career: Success, Happiness, and Satisfaction
- Academic Success
- Self Esteem
- Getting Past Crisis and Isolation and Reconnecting With Life
- Eating Issues / Body Issues
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Blending of a Family
- Issues of Communication
- Asperger’s Disorder
- Addiction Recovery
- Adoption
- Bipolar Disorder
- Conflicts of Generations Due to Immigration
- Childhood Abuse
- Gender Identity Issues
- Dual-Diagnosis
- Cases involving Head Injury
- Sexual Issues
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Personality Disorders
- LBGTQ Issues
- Motivation / Procrastination
- Reactive Attachment Disorder
- Women’s Issues
- Men’s Issues
- Sibling Relationships
- Trust / Intimacy
Therapeutic Orientation:
Therapists are trained in theories and modalities of treatment. When in session with our clients we work from these theories and modalities. The theory we are working from will dictate our approach to the conversation, questions that are asked or not asked, and certain decisions made in terms of who we see in sessions, etc. The theories that I am trained in are: Bowen Family Systems Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Redecision Therapy, Depth Psychology, Trauma Resiliency Model, Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping, Dialectical Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Gestalt Jungian Dreamwork, Gestalt Therapy, Art and Play Therapy Techniques, Anger Management Techniques, Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Imago Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy including Meditation, and Somatic Therapeutic Techniques. I am continually training in new theories. Theories are tailored for each session, individual, and couple coming for counseling.
Education:
| Master's Degree | Phillip's Graduate Institute | 1998 |
| Thesis: Qualitative Research Study, Highly Fluid Family Structures: Multigenerational Study of Families Consisting of Three or More Children with Different Biological Parents | ||
Bachelor’s Degree Research: The Attachment Bond, Sir Richard Bowldy and Mary Ainsworth: Is Bonding Reciprocal Between Infant and Primary Caretaker? Research: Aquisition of Language, The Navajo Language as Compared to The English Language and the Impact on the Brain | Sarah Lawrence College | 1978
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| Visiting Student | Harvard University | 1976 |
| Visiting Student | Reed College | 1977 |
| Post Graduate Training | ||
| Daniel J Siegel, M.D. | Training in Interpersonal Neurobiology | 1999 - 2005 |
| Allan Schore, Ph.D. | Developmental Affective Neuroscience | 2006 - 2008 |
| Ongoing training and research in the areas of affective neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology, couple’s work and pre-marital therapy, sexual issues, adolescence, play therapy with children, mindfulness therapy techniques, somatic therapy techniques, personality disorders, self harming behaviors, trauma, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, addiction / ocd, parenting, women’s issues, men’s issues. I attend workshops and do research continually to stay current in the fields of psychology and psychotherapy. | ||
Clinical Experience:
| Private Practice | 1999 to Present | |
| Supervisor to Marriage and Family Therapy Interns | 2006 to Present | |
| The Teen, Young Adult and Family Program of the West Valley | 1999 to Present | |
| Founded, Director, and Psychotherapist Providing Individual Psychotherapy, Parent Consultation, Group Therapy for Teens, Young Adults, and Parents | ||
| Bridge Focus Mental Health Clinic | Panorama City, CA | 1997 to 1999 |
| Brighten Community School | Burbank, CA | 1997 to 1999 |
| Brighten Community School is a continuation school for adolescents re-entering high school from youth authority facilities, county probation camps, and for teens expelled from Los Angeles County Unified School District, Burbank Unified School District, and Glendale School District. I provided individual psychotherapy to attending adolescents and their families. | ||
| Volunteers of America, First Start | San Fernando, CA | 1997 to 1997 |
| Accessible mental health services for adjudicated adolescents and their families. I provided psychotherapy to adolescent clients who were mandated for counseling as part of their probation. Psychotherapy also included family therapy sessions. | ||
| Volunteers of America, Head Start Program | North Hollywood, CA | 1997 to 1997 |
| Providing child psychotherapy to preschoolers and their families | ||
Speaking Engagements, Workshops and Radio Interviews:
| Parenting from a Neuroscience Prospective: A Ten Week Parenting Group | Present | |
| Requested to Teach A Meditation Group to Young Adults | 2009 | |
| “Shrinkrap”, a Radio Show in the Los Angeles area. | 2008 | |
| Interviewed on the subject of: Teens, The Importance of the Teenage Years, Parenting Teens From a Neuroscience Prospective. "The Teen, Young Adult and Family Program of the West Valley." | ||
| Invited to conduct workshops, do speaking engagements, chair large psycho-educational community events for groups such as corporations, chambers of commerce, private sector organizations, schools, non-profit organizations, women's organizations, religious affiliated membership groups, groups organized by hospitals for self help purposes and others through out Los Angeles County and surrounding areas on topics such as: | 1999 to Present | |
The Addictive Family System | ||
| Sought out by the Los Angeles Unified School District to conduct Parenting Workshops, “Enhancing Communication Between First Generation American Families” for Hispanic Immigrant Parents with “at risk” children, born in the United States attended by parents and their high school aged children. | 2003 | |
| Sought out by the Los Angeles Unified School District to train their High School Counselors concerning issues of “high risk” adolescent behaviors. This was a series of speaking engagements at High Schools within the Los Angeles School District | 2002 | |
| Member of: American Association of Marriage and Family Therapist California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Group Psychotherapy Association of Los Angeles Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies | ||