Holly Starr, LMFT

Holly Starr is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of clinical work in California. She focuses on common midlife concerns such as changes in identity, loss of purpose, and shifting relationships, along with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and self-esteem struggles. Holly writes plainly and listens carefully to understand what matters most to each person.

She trained in clinical psychology after earning a BA in English Literature, and she brings both verbal clarity and curiosity to sessions. Early work on a suicide prevention hotline and as a grief therapist and supervisor shaped her attention to loss, bereavement, and mood concerns. That background also informs how she supports people facing traumatic or abusive experiences.

In therapy she mixes focused conversation with reflections about patterns in relationships and history. She helps people notice how thoughts affect choices and behavior, and she aims for small, manageable changes that improve day-to-day life. Sessions can include work on attachment wounds, codependency, caregiver stress, or feelings of emptiness and dissociation.

Holly values collaboration and practical pacing. She encourages people to be curious about their feelings and to name what is hard to put into words. Her style is steady and observant, with attention to how past experiences shape current struggles.

People who reach out are supported through transitions such as postpartum changes, fertility concerns, aging and geriatric issues, and young adulthood challenges. She practices in California and conducts therapy in English.

How approaches translate to online therapy

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape present connections and emotional responses. Online sessions using this approach can help with intimacy issues, caregiver stress, and patterns of codependency by tracing where those patterns began and what they mean now.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. In remote work CBT often emphasizes practical exercises and short behavioral experiments to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and change unhelpful routines.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to match methods to their needs, goals, and preferences. That may mean trying a couple of ways of working and adjusting based on how helpful they feel.

If you are considering online sessions, check which formats are currently offered before booking. Confirming options helps plan how therapy fits into your life - for example to fit sessions into a lunch break, choose a shorter check-in, or avoid being on camera when that feels better. Online work can make it easier to keep therapy consistent during life transitions, though specific session types should be verified with the therapist.