Christina Tyhurst (LCSW)

I am a licensed clinical social worker in California privileged to have 10+ years of professional work experience providing various therapies to my wonderful clients. After earning my bachelors degree in psychology at UC Davis, I worked at a school that served children with a primary diagnosis of autism. While I was a member of a team that helped teach 8-10 year old boys various skill acquisition tasks, I learned a great deal in this line of work as well. The program was loosely based on applied behavior analysis where we focused on using positive reinforcement to teach various competencies and decrease maladaptive coping skills. Following this I began providing ABA services in home for kids with autism aged 3-7yo. I worked helping kids learn more daily living skills, school readiness, behavior modification, and more. I then had a short stint as a nanny (and definitely used my behavior modification knowledge to my advantage). Following that I earned my MSW at the University of Southern California where I had an internship as a school counselor (and earned my PPSC), and at a partial hospitalization program at UCLA’s neuropsychiatric hospital working with families with kids who struggled with school for various reasons. Upon graduation I went back to ABA as a supervisor and managed a caseload of 10-15 families with children on the autism spectrum providing case management, parent training, staff training, program planning, behavior modification strategies and most importantly, doing all of this while building a strong and positive rapport with my clients and their families. Since 2017 I’ve shifted my focus to working with adults and focusing on relationship and life skills such as boundaries, mindfulness, anger management, assertiveness, how to choose a healthy partner, how to have a healthy relationship, emotion identification, expression, regulation, and communication. I also love exploring how our attachment styles and coherent narratives impact our ability and path of growth. I believe that the relationship between a therapist and a client is one that requires an important fit. It’s ok to shop around to find someone that fits you and if I’m the lucky therapist who works with your personality, then I truly look forward to working with you to improve your life. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started! Your mental health is worth EVERYTHING.