Therapist in Sherman Oaks, CA | EMDR, Art & Somatic Therapy
I'm Cristina Lugo, and I work with Gen Z and young millennial clients who are trying to build a stable life while everything around them feels like it's moving fast. Career demands, relationship stress, and the quiet pressure to have your life looking put together by a certain age show up constantly in my sessions. My practice exists for people who want more than surface level advice, they want to actually understand the roots of what's making them anxious or stuck. I bring warmth, cultural awareness, and clinical depth into every session, so the work stays grounded even when what you're dealing with feels chaotic. You deserve a space where you can finally exhale and just tell the truth.
Ventura Boulevard's long stretch of restaurants and shops gives this community its everyday texture, and the Sherman Oaks Galleria has been a familiar landmark for generations of people who grew up nearby. Sitting where the 101 and 405 freeways meet, this area connects easily to the rest of the San Fernando Valley and beyond, which means plenty of my clients are commuting through here even if they don't live in the immediate area. It's a mix of young professionals building their careers and families raising kids, often within the same few blocks of each other. Sherman Oaks carries that in between energy, part bustling corridor, part quiet residential neighborhood.
Living somewhere that mixes career driven young professionals with established families creates a specific kind of pressure to have your life on a certain track by a certain age. A lot of my clients here are comparing themselves to neighbors, coworkers, or even their own parents, wondering why they don't feel as settled as everyone else appears to be. The convenience of being close to everything can also mean there's little excuse, in your own head, to ever actually slow down. Clients choose to work with me because I don't measure your progress against anyone else's timeline. Here, your pace is the only one that matters.
How it works
My approach starts with your whole story
My work is grounded in trauma informed care, EMDR, and a decolonial lens that treats your cultural background and family history as central to understanding you, not extra context. I stay genuinely curious about your specific situation instead of running everyone through the same fixed process. Depending on what fits, sessions might combine talk therapy, EMDR, and body based tools.
Book a discovery call
Getting started means having a real conversation, not filling out a stack of clinical paperwork. I want to know what's actually going on for you, what you've already tried, and what change would look like. It feels like two people figuring out fit, not a formal evaluation. From there, we shape a plan together that reflects your specific goals.
What ongoing work actually looks like
My clients build tools that actually hold up during a hard week, not just ideas that sound good in session and fade by Monday. They get better at separating what's truly theirs from what they've absorbed from family or comparison, and they build a steadier relationship with themselves over time. Many have tried therapy before and felt like nothing really stuck. That tends to be different here, because the work is shaped entirely around you.
Explore my therapy services and specializations
Trying to keep pace with a neighborhood full of ambitious professionals and settled families can leave you feeling like you're constantly behind on some invisible schedule. You might be juggling career pressure, a relationship that doesn't match anyone's expectations, or an exhausting habit of comparing your life to everyone around you.
In session, we slow that comparison down enough to actually examine what you want, separate from what looks good from the outside. We name the patterns that keep repeating and build something steadier and more honest in their place. The tools we use are shaped around what actually works for you, not a generic timeline.
Most clients eventually notice they've stopped measuring their life against everyone else's. That shift alone tends to bring a real, noticeable sense of relief.
Some experiences don't fade just because you've talked about them enough times to have a smooth explanation ready. If certain moments still send your body straight back to an old reaction, that's your nervous system still on guard against something it hasn't realized is over.
EMDR works with that stuck material directly, without needing you to narrate every detail for it to be effective. That's a relief for people who've spent years feeling like they need a perfect explanation before their pain counts. Instead, we help your brain complete something it got interrupted partway through.
I always move through EMDR at your pace, never ahead of what feels manageable. Many clients describe the outcome as an old memory finally quieting down, present but no longer running the show from behind everything else.
Some things are hard to explain clearly, even once you understand exactly what you'd call them. Art therapy gives you a way in that doesn't require polished language to get started.
Working through image, material, or color lets what's underneath surface naturally, ahead of the part of your brain that wants everything organized into a clean story first. That takes real pressure off needing to have it all figured out before you're allowed to feel it.
No artistic skill is required for this, and nothing you create gets evaluated. It's simply another door into the same honest work, especially useful on days when talking just isn't available.
You can understand a pattern completely and still feel it show up as tightness in your chest or a clenched jaw. Somatic therapy addresses that physical layer directly instead of just talking around it.
We build your awareness of what's happening in your body as it happens, catching tension or bracing before it fully takes over. Over time, that means feeling less hijacked by automatic reactions and more able to stay present, even during a stressful week.
This work pairs naturally with EMDR and talk therapy, giving you something concrete to practice with between sessions, whether we meet in my office or over video.
PTSD doesn't always look like what people expect. It might be irritability that seems to come out of nowhere, avoiding certain situations without fully understanding why, or memories surfacing at moments you didn't choose. None of that means something is wrong with you, it means your nervous system is still protecting you from something it hasn't registered as finished.
My work centers on safety and pacing above everything else. We move in a way that helps you process what happened without needing to recount every detail out loud, which is often a genuine relief. Nothing happens faster than what feels right for you.
Over time, clients experience a real, gradual shift where the past stops steering the present. It doesn't disappear, but it loses its hold. Getting to watch someone realize that's possible for them is one of the most meaningful parts of this work.
Childhood harm doesn't have to be dramatic to leave a genuine mark. Many of the capable, high achieving people I work with here grew up managing an unpredictable parent, keeping the peace in a tense home, or carrying a role that was never actually theirs to take on.
I move through this kind of history slowly and carefully, because safety comes before anything else. We proceed at whatever pace protects your nervous system, without rushing toward a resolution that isn't real yet.
Over time, I watch clients begin to hold their story with more ownership, including what happened without letting it define everything since. Being trusted with that shift is one of the most meaningful parts of my work.
For some teens, individual sessions alone aren't enough, and being around peers facing something similar changes the whole experience. Group therapy helps teens feel less alone in what they're carrying, whether that's anxiety, family stress, or the pressure of growing up around so much visible achievement.
Groups are built to feel genuinely safe, not like another place to perform for adults. Teens often accept support more easily from people their own age than from anyone older explaining how they should feel.
Here, struggling doesn't set a teen apart from everyone else, it's simply part of being human. Support looks like connection instead of correction, and that shift changes how many teens see themselves.
Many of the patterns I help adults untangle took shape much earlier, which is part of why I also work with teenagers who are already carrying more than makes sense for their age. That might look like anxiety, pressure to keep up with peers, or the quiet job of managing a parent's mood before their own.
Teens tend to open up when they feel genuinely respected instead of managed like a problem to solve. Sessions give them language for what they're experiencing before it hardens into a lasting pattern, and parents often notice their teen beginning to name a feeling instead of just acting it out.
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 Sherman Oaks and the surrounding San Fernando Valley, including Studio City, Encino, Van Nuys, and North Hollywood. I offer in-person sessions here near Ventura Boulevard along with virtual sessions for clients anywhere in California who prefer meeting from home. Whether you're coming from the Galleria or just off the 101 or 405, reaching me is simple. You can see the surrounding service area 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 throughout Sherman Oaks and the greater San Fernando Valley. As a Puerto Rican American therapist, I bring a culturally responsive, decolonial lens into every session, understanding what it means to feel pressure to have your life looking a certain way by a certain age. My office sits close enough to Ventura Boulevard that plenty of clients stop by on their way to or from work. This work was never about polishing you into a more presentable version of yourself. It's about helping you settle into who you actually are, underneath the schedule and the comparison.
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.