Mark Dominguez

Greetings, my name is Mark and I've been working professionally with families and youth in the foster care system for over 14 years in several positions such as: facility social worker, substance abuse counselor, and as intern therapist. Currently, as a licensed clinician, I hope to share joy and compassion for those that I work with, by using a person-centered approach as a basis for everything that I do. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist LMFT135452 practicing here in the state of California. I work with individuals, couples, adults, and teens.

My approach

My theoretical approach includes: being Person-Centered, Solution Focused, and utilizing the skills found in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. When we meet, I will be happy to explain what these theories are, how they work, and what symptoms they are most effectively used to treat.

My focus

I typically work with clients in highly stressful jobs/situations such as: Company Executives, Managers, Educators, Military Personnel and their families, Medical Care Professionals, Families associated with the foster care system, Families and Individuals in the LGBTQ community, Law Enforcement and Social Services.

My communication style

One of the tenets of Solution Focused Therapy (SFBT) is a positive, respectful, and hopeful outlook on the part of the clinician. Practitioners maintain the assumption that people have the strength, wisdom, experience, and resilience to effect change. What other models view as "resistance" is viewed in SFBT as people's natural protective mechanisms or a previous therapist's error that do not fit the client's situation. These assumptions make for sessions that tend to feel collegial, kind, respectful, and enlightening.

My journey to mental healthcare

Previous to my work as a Mental Health Clinician, I was in the U.S. Army as a Combat Medic and an Orthopedic Specialist. I graduated with my Master's Degree in 2009 and worked as a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern in a Private Practice Organization (2010-2014) as well as a Non-profit Foster Family Agency (2008-2022). I worked as a facility Social Worker providing mental health services and case management to highly traumatized families as well as a mental health provider working with youth in community care. In 2022 I re-entered private practice as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and started my own organization called Solutions Family Counseling Center where I currently provide education and mental health services.

My goals for you

Working with clients we co-create goals and objectives. I feel that you are the author of your own story, and I can assist as a guide on your journey to wellness. Some examples could be to: lower the frequency, intensity, and duration of those issues that you find most challenging such as: stress, anxiety, and depression.

My first session with you

During person-centered therapy, a therapist acts as a compassionate facilitator, listening without judgment and acknowledging the client's experience without telling the client what to do or giving advice. The therapist is there to encourage and support the client without interrupting or interfering with their process of self-discovery, as they uncover what hurts and what is needed to repair it. Using Solution Focused Therapy and Person-Centered therapy both the client and clinician work together to create a treatment.