Macarena Santelices, LCPC, LPCC

Macarena Santelices is a licensed counselor with 14 years of experience working in California and Maryland. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, low mood, and the practical strains of parenting and family life. She emphasizes a respectful, down-to-earth approach that meets each person where they are.

Macarena believes clients are the experts in their own stories and builds on existing strengths. Sessions tend to be collaborative and goal-oriented, with clear steps you can try between meetings. She encourages small changes that add up over time.

Her work covers relationship and communication problems, self-esteem and body image concerns, and coping with life changes such as a midlife crisis. She also supports people facing caregiver stress, chronic illness or pain, and money-related stress.

Macarena uses practical techniques drawn from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Mindfulness Therapy to help with emotions, behavior, and daily routines. She helps people develop skills for managing distress, improving coping, and strengthening relationships.

She is licensed as an LPCC in California and an LCPC in Maryland. Sessions are conducted in English. To begin, clients use the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to the therapist's availability.

How CBT, DBT, and Mindfulness translate to online therapy

Macarena uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice unhelpful thinking and try different behaviors. CBT often focuses on practical exercises and short experiments to test new ways of thinking and acting.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy offers skills for handling intense emotions and improving relationships. DBT work can include learning emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication techniques.

Mindfulness Therapy trains awareness of the present moment and simple practices to reduce reactivity. These techniques can support stress reduction, better focus, and steadier mood day to day.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, challenges, and what feels most useful. Together they choose which methods to try and adjust them as progress is made.

Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, for example by removing travel time or allowing shorter check-ins during a break. The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current options before booking. Licensed professionals commonly use online sessions to work on skills, homework, and check-ins that support changes outside the therapy hour.