Therapist in Pomona, CA | EMDR, Art & Somatic Therapy
I work with Gen Z and young millennial clients who are stretched thin trying to keep up with school, work, and family obligations all at the same time. Many are managing anxiety, relationship stress, or family patterns that were established long before they had any say in the matter. My practice is built for people who want genuine understanding, not just a sympathetic ear once a week. I bring a trauma informed, culturally aware lens to every session, and I take your experience seriously without reducing it to a diagnosis. Wherever you're starting from, you don't need a polished explanation for our work together to be worthwhile.
A lot of my clients are current students or recent graduates of Cal Poly Pomona or Western University of Health Sciences, balancing coursework with jobs, internships, and family responsibilities that don't pause for finals. Others spend weekends exploring the galleries and studios of the Downtown Pomona Arts Colony, or grew up going to the Fairplex every year for the LA County Fair. This is a city where higher education, creative energy, and working class roots sit right next to each other, and that mix shows up in the pressures my clients describe. Pomona clients often come to me juggling ambition with real financial and family pressure, trying to build a future without losing themselves in the process.
Being a student or recent graduate while also supporting your family financially or emotionally creates a specific kind of exhaustion that doesn't get talked about enough. A lot of my clients are the ones expected to succeed academically, help out at home, and somehow keep their own mental health together without complaint. Add the pressure of being compared to family members who took a more traditional path, and it's easy to feel like nothing you do is ever quite enough. I offer a space where ambition and struggle can coexist honestly, without one needing to cancel out the other. Clients tell me it's the first place they've felt like they could stop proving themselves for a moment.
How it works
My approach starts with your whole story
My approach isn't one size fits all, and it never will be. I rely on trauma informed care and EMDR, paired with genuine curiosity about the academic, family, and cultural systems that shaped how you learned to manage stress. A decolonial lens means paying attention to inherited expectations and power dynamics, not just addressing symptoms in isolation. I'd rather understand your full context than assume I already have it figured out. Depending on what actually helps, sessions might combine talk therapy, EMDR, somatic tools, or creative approaches.
Book a discovery call
Getting started here means a real, human conversation, not a formal screening process. I want to hear what's actually happening, what you've already tried, and what change would genuinely look like for you. There's no need to have it all together before we talk. From that first conversation, we build a plan collaboratively, because you deserve a real voice in your own care.
What ongoing work actually looks like
The clients I work with here build more than temporary relief. They walk away with tools that hold up under real pressure, more clarity about what they actually want versus what's expected of them, and a steadier relationship with themselves overall. Many arrive doubting therapy can offer much beyond a weekly vent session. That doubt tends to fade quickly once the actual work begins.
Explore my therapy services and specializations
Between school, work, and family responsibilities that never seem to pause, being a young adult right now can feel like running a race with no clear finish line.
In sessions, we slow that pace down together. We look at what's actually driving your anxiety or the relationship patterns that keep showing up, and build tools that fit your actual schedule and pressures, not a generic plan. You bring the details, we shape the approach around them.
Over time, most clients notice they're not white knuckling their way through every week anymore. There's more room to actually feel like yourself, instead of just managing everyone else's expectations.
Some experiences don't fade just because you understand them logically. If your body still reacts strongly to certain situations, tensing up, shutting down, spiraling, that's your nervous system still holding onto old protective patterns.
EMDR works with that directly, without requiring you to narrate every painful detail out loud. It helps your brain finish processing what got stuck, so old moments stop hijacking your present without warning.
We move at whatever pace genuinely works for you, always. Clients often describe feeling steadier afterward, like a switch that used to flip automatically finally quieted down.
Some feelings are hard to explain even to yourself, let alone say out loud in a session. Art therapy doesn't ask you to have the words ready first.
Working through image, color, or material lets what's underneath come forward naturally, sometimes before you're even able to name it. What shows up in the work often communicates more than a carefully constructed sentence.
No artistic skill is required, and nothing you make gets evaluated. It's simply another way into the work, especially useful on days when talking feels completely out of reach.
You can understand a pattern fully in your head and still feel it living in your body anyway, the tight shoulders before a big exam, the shallow breath before a hard conversation with family.
Somatic work builds your real time awareness of that physical experience, so tension gets noticed before it fully takes over. That awareness becomes something you can actually use, not just something you register after the fact.
This pairs naturally with EMDR and talk therapy, giving you real tools to use between sessions, whether we meet in person or virtually.
PTSD doesn't always look like what people expect. Sometimes it's constant low grade alertness, avoiding certain situations without fully understanding why, or a memory resurfacing at the worst possible time.
My approach puts safety and pacing first, always. We work in a way that lets you process what happened without needing to relive every detail, and we never move faster than what genuinely feels manageable.
What tends to happen over time is a real, gradual shift. The past stops dictating the present so completely. It doesn't disappear, but it stops running the show, and that change tends to feel like real relief.
Childhood trauma doesn't need to look dramatic to be real. A lot of my clients grew up managing a parent's stress, translating for family members, or learning early that their own needs came second, quietly and consistently.
This work moves slowly and carefully, with safety as the actual foundation, not an afterthought. We go at your pace, helping your nervous system finally release what it's been holding without tipping you into overwhelm.
Over time, clients begin to reclaim their story on their own terms, including what happened without letting it define the whole picture. That shift often feels like getting a piece of yourself back.
For some teens, individual sessions only address part of what they're carrying, and being around peers who genuinely understand changes the whole experience.
Group therapy helps teens feel less alone in whatever they're navigating, whether that's academic pressure, family stress, or the effort of holding things together for everyone else. These groups are structured to feel safe, not like a performance in front of adults.
Many teens find it easier to accept support from people their own age, and that peer connection often becomes just as valuable as anything said directly in the room.
I also work with teenagers who are already carrying more responsibility than their age really requires, often the ones managing family stress while also trying to keep up in school.
Teens tend to open up once they feel genuinely respected instead of managed. Sessions give them real language for what they're feeling before it hardens into a pattern that follows them into adulthood.
This work meets teens exactly where they are, not where some general standard says they should be, whether we meet in person or virtually.
Who I serve
My practice serves clients throughout Pomona and nearby communities including Claremont, La Verne, Chino, and Diamond Bar, as well as the greater Inland Valley. I offer in-person sessions in Pomona and virtual sessions for clients anywhere in California who prefer to meet from home. You'll find the surrounding service area shown on the map below.
Hi, I'm Cristina Lugo — LCSW therapist specializing in young adults
I'm a licensed psychotherapist specializing in EMDR, working with Gen Z and young millennial clients across Pomona and the surrounding Inland Valley. As a Puerto Rican American therapist, I understand what it means to juggle ambition, family loyalty, and your own wellbeing all at once, often without anyone teaching you how. My work in Pomona is built for people who are tired of proving themselves just to be taken seriously. This isn't about handing you a corrected version of who you should be. It's about helping you find your way back to who you were before you learned to constantly perform being okay.
FAQ about my services
What is the best type of therapy for young adults and teenagers?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. The most effective therapy depends on your stage of life, identity, and needs. EMDR, mindfulness, ACT, and creative approaches can all be helpful when tailored to you.
Do you offer therapy in person? What about virtual? Which one is better?
I prefer in-person therapy because it creates a stronger sense of connection at my Pasadena office. Virtual sessions are also available for convenience, and some clients even choose a mix of both.
Do you take insurance?
I am considered out-of-network. Many PPO plans reimburse part of the cost, and I provide monthly superbills so you can request reimbursement directly from your insurance company.
What is your cancellation policy?
I ask for at least 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel. If we can’t reschedule in the same week, the full session fee will apply.
Do you offer a sliding scale?
I believe that therapy should be within reach, regardless of what life throws your way. I offer a community-minded sliding scale for individuals affected by systemic stressors, financial strain, or unexpected crises. If this applies to you, please let me know. Together we’ll make a plan that supports your healing while honoring the sustainability of my practice.