Today we’d like to introduce you to Liliana Frandsen.
Hi Liliana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
As early as I can remember, I’ve been interested in exploring my inner world. In my childhood through my twenties, I used art and theater as a means of exploration and now I use creative psychology.
Growing up, I attended a performing arts high school where I focused on commercial recording arts. By the time I graduated college with my BA in theater arts, I was singing professionally and devising original theater pieces. After graduation, I took a weekend trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and ended up staying for three years. I found a theater company there and began teaching and performing — nestled in the Teton mountain range. When I knew it was time to come home to LA, I transitioned into a job working for a composer who made music for television. During that period of my life, I learned the inner workings of the entertainment industry, gleaned valuable business knowledge, and developed a restlessness for deeper purpose.
I left my job with the composer and went back to grad school to earn my master’s in counseling psychology. My program focused on Depth Psychology, which uses mythology, symbols, and metaphor to help people deepen their understanding of themselves and their place in the human experience. This methodology gave my creative drive to make art and tell stories a home within psychology. I wrote my published master’s thesis on creativity as a tool to foster post-traumatic growth.
Now, I work as a mental health therapist in a private practice, and many of the clients I see are artists and creatives working in the entertainment industry. I get to use both my training in psychotherapy and my background in the arts to support others.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve taken many big risks in my life—leaving homes, relationships, and financial security all in pursuit of growth and greater possibilities. Each time I took a risk, I was met with a whole new set of challenges. I also developed a stronger sense of self and trust in my innate resiliency. These experiences have given me a greater capacity to support my clients in their self-discovery.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My office is located on the border of Atwater Village and Glendale. I help my clients navigate difficult emotions and find a deeper sense of self. I work with anxiety, depression, life transitions, trauma, relationship issues, grief, and poor self-esteem. I specialize in working with the LGBTQIA+ community. I work with queer, lesbian, bi, and trans-identifying adults and adolescents in individual, couples, and group settings where we focus on issues ranging from identity, gender exploration, sexuality, relationship issues to resilience. I’m passionate about continuing the process of decolonizing mental health therapy, and all my work is affirmative and through a queer, social justice lens.
My therapeutic style is warm, genuine, and non-judgmental. I engage with my clients through empathy, humor, curiosity, and creativity to foster a supportive and collaborative environment. In our work together, my approach with each individual and relationship is unique and I make use of multiple therapeutic methods to provide support that is holistic and deeply personalized. I use psychodynamic and attachment theories to examine how early childhood experiences inform current challenges in relation to the self and others. I use somatic interventions to incorporate the body and deepen emotional experiences while supporting safety and repair. I incorporate Jungian/Depth psychology using archetypes, myth, and artistic expression to understand challenging experiences in the context of universal human patterns. I also use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to offer practical mindfulness tools to change distressing thought patterns.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lilianafrandsentherapy.com
