Briana Eckels received her Master’s in Social Work in May of 2018 from the University of Southern California. She is currently an Associate Clinical Social Worker (ACSW) for adolescents at SoCal Adolescent Wellness in Lake Forest. Briana’s passion for working with youth began as a childcare provider. She has worked with youth with autism spectrum disorder and their families as an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist from September 2018-to September 2019. Briana is passionate about eradicating the early cycles of problematic behaviors so that they do not continue as our youth grow into adults. She honors providing a safe, supportive, and empathetic environment when providing therapeutic services. Working under the supervision of a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) at So Cal Adolescent Wellness, Briana is excited to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in working with youth who have experienced trauma and abuse. For self-care. Briana enjoys reading, spending time with loved ones, and watching a movie while enjoying a pint of Ben &Jerry’s ice cream.

Joanna received her M.S in Clinical Psychology from Vanguard University and her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Concordia University, Irvine. She is currently an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)/ Associate Professional Clinical Counselor(APCC) for adolescents at SoCal Adolescent Wellness in Lake Forest and Huntington Beach. She has worked with children, adolescents, couples, and families across cultures and socioeconomic classes. Joanna has experience working in Community Mental Health, Residential Level of Care, Partial-Hospitalization-Programs, and Intensive-Outpatient-Programs with Adolescents and Adults. Joanna uses different therapeutic techniques, including CBT, psychodynamic, strengths based therapy, mindfulness, and art therapy. She has a passion to help adolescents feel validated and understand to be able to connect to their most authentic selves. Joanna places collaboration as a foundation to provide a holistic approach to provide support as well. The self care that she plunges herself in is reading books, watching anime, enjoying hot yoga, watching movies, being funny, hikes, surfing, art, and enjoying a spectrum of food.

Bryn received her Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Vanguard University. She is currently registered as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and as an Associate Professional Clinical Counselor. Bryn’s passion for working with adolescents is founded in a desire to walk alongside youth in an intimate and collaborative way as they bring about positive, meaningful, and long-lasting change. Her passion for working with this age group originated as a youth soccer coach and trainer. Bryn’s treatment approach is trauma-informed with foundations in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, and Art Therapy. Her personal interests include playing soccer, surfing, art, film photography, and music.

Lauren received her M.S in Counseling from CSU Fullerton and her B.S in Psychology with specialization of Child/Adolescent Development from CSU Channel Islands. She is currently an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) for adolescents at SoCal Adolescent Wellness in Lake Forest and Huntington Beach. She has worked with children, adolescents, and families across cultures and socioeconomic classes. Lauren uses different therapeutic techniques, including CBT, intersectional feminist therapy, strengths based therapy, mindfulness, and art therapy. She has a passion for empowering adolescents to feel connected to oneself and others. She believes in a collaborative approach using empathy, authenticity, and genuineness with both adolescents as well as their families. For self care, Lauren enjoys spending time with loved ones, watching movies, kickboxing, art, and reading.

Jim is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. He is Group Facilitator at SoCal Adolescent Wellness and has a private practice. Previously, Jim worked with patients a families for several years in a hospital-based chemical dependency recovery program. Jim takes a holistic approach to working with clients, integrating psychodynamic, CBT, DBT and the mind-body connection. He is the creator of a video series entitled, Out & INformed on TherapyCable.com targeting mental health issues in the LGBTQ Community. Jim’s other passions include Qi Gong, gardening, camping and getting out into nature.

Jean-Marc Tardieu is a Music Therapist as well as a singer and writer, born and raised in the twin island republic of Trinidad & Tobago in the southern Caribbean. He is a graduate of the internationally acclaimed Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA where he majored in Music Therapy, received a minor in Psychology.

Jean-Marc is also the Associate Producer for the award winning and internationally acclaimed performing arts group “The Love Movement” in Trinidad & Tobago. He has written, co produced and sung on their albums. He currently works with Get in Tune Music Therapy and several other companies doing Music Therapy sessions at various Hospitals and Rehabilitation centers throughout Southern California.

Rupa Ward has an MA in Psychology with Marriage and Family emphasis from Chapman University.  She is an EMDR certified therapist who specializes in treating trauma related issues.

She utilizes different therapeutic techniques, including CBT, ACT, EMDR, voice dialog, assertiveness training, Gottman Couples Therapy and strategies derived from mindfulness practice and body-mind integration theories. She has extensive experience in facilitating recovery from grief and loss.

She has taught yoga and meditation in the community for years and offers regular workshops on mindfulness.

Kyle Perry started his experience working in mental health in 2015 in a variety of capacities including residential treatment manager and clinical placement specialist. His drive and passion to help others in their darkest moments brought him to SoCal Adolescent Wellness in 2018 as one of the company’s first hires. he has been a fundamental part of the team as the center has grown from a single location to 3 locations in North and South Orange County. As the Admissions and Discharge Planner, Kyle has a proven reputation of helping families locate the best treatment options available for adolescents and their families.

Chris Lambert, MA, MT-BC, is a music therapist based in Orange County, CA. He works primarily with adolescents and adults in substance abuse rehabilitation and in outpatient mental health treatment facilities. Chris recently moved to California from New York City, where he worked as a licensed creative arts therapist with clients in foster care and in the juvenile justice system. He is currently working towards a master’s in marriage and family therapy at California State University, Fullerton.

With a MFA from Chapman university and a BA from a university in Rome, Italy, Gaya joined SoCal Adolescent Wellness in 2021. While her background was in writing for various news outlets, along with teaching at private schools, it was her experience caretaking for her severely mentally ill sister and her personal journey in healing and therapy where she gained insight and empathy into the challenges those with mental illness and their families face.

In her free time, she works as an intuitive spiritual coach and loves spending time with her family and her fur babies.