Ava McEachern, MA, AMFT
Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist #148930
Supervised by: Dr. Krystal Handy, LMFT# 111600
Identity Development
Life Transitions
Anxiety
Client Focus: BIPOC Individuals, Marginalized Communities, Young Adults, LGBTQIA+ Clients, Women
Specialties: Identity development, life transitions, anxiety, trauma, self-esteem, LGBTQIA+ issues, stress management, depression, women's issues, relationship challenges
Treatment Methods: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Humanistic Therapy
"I felt driven to become a therapist out of the understanding that humans do not always have non-judgmental, genuine, and supportive spaces to be our true selves in daily life. My goal as a therapist is to create these safe spaces for my clients, where all sides of themselves feel safe enough to be seen."
- Ava McEachern
Ava McEachern is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who creates non-judgmental, genuine, and supportive spaces where clients can show up as their true selves.
With particular passion for working with BIPOC and other marginalized individuals, she helps clients process past experiences and navigate the intricacies of everyday life with greater clarity and confidence. Ava specializes in supporting young adults through identity exploration, life transitions, and anxiety management, recognizing that these formative challenges often intersect with experiences of marginalization and the search for authentic self-expression. Her approach is grounded in the understanding that humans don't always have safe spaces to be fully themselves in daily life, and therapy can provide that essential sanctuary where all sides of a person feel safe enough to be seen.
Her therapeutic approach is eclectic and integrative, drawing from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and Humanistic frameworks. This versatile toolkit allows her to appropriately meet the unique needs of each client, adapting her methods to honor individual circumstances, cultural contexts, and personal preferences. Ava's narrative approach helps clients rewrite limiting stories about themselves, while her psychodynamic lens explores how past experiences shape present patterns. Her CBT and DBT techniques provide practical skills for managing anxiety and navigating transitions, while her humanistic foundation ensures that every intervention is delivered with genuine care and respect for clients' inherent worth and capacity for growth.
With a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, Ava brings contemporary training and diverse clinical experience to her therapeutic practice. Her background spans community mental health, inpatient, and outpatient treatment settings, exposing her to a wide range of presenting concerns and populations. This varied experience has equipped her with the flexibility and cultural competence needed to support clients through trauma recovery, self-esteem challenges, LGBTQIA+ concerns, stress management, depression, women's issues, and relationship difficulties. As a BIPOC woman herself, Ava brings lived experience into therapy sessions that allows her clients to feel seen and heard in ways they may not always receive from the world around them.
Outside the therapy room, Ava finds joy in spending time with her three-year-old pug/French bulldog mix, whose playful energy and unconditional affection provide daily reminders of presence and connection. She values being outside in the sunshine, whether hiking trails or relaxing at the beach, understanding that nature offers renewal and perspective. These outdoor experiences reflect her belief in the importance of balance, self-care, and finding moments of peace and beauty—practices she encourages in her clients as essential components of mental wellness and authentic living.
As a BIPOC woman, Ava brings lived experience into therapy sessions that allows clients from marginalized communities to feel genuinely seen and heard in ways they may not always receive from the world around them.
She works from an eclectic, integrative approach that draws from CBT/DBT, Psychodynamic, Narrative, and Humanistic therapy, allowing her to appropriately meet the unique needs of each client rather than applying a one-size-fits-all methodology.
Ava specializes in creating non-judgmental, genuine spaces where all sides of clients feel safe enough to be seen, particularly supporting BIPOC individuals, LGBTQIA+ clients, young adults, and others navigating identity development and life transitions.