Arlene Drake, LMFT

Arlene Drake is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California with 40 years of professional experience. She helps people facing anxiety, stress, relationship strain, trauma and abuse, and issues related to intimacy. She also supports those dealing with career questions, life changes, and LGBT concerns. Arlene emphasizes each person’s strengths and treats clients as the expert on their own lives.

Her sessions focus on practical steps people can take right away. She listens for what matters most to each person and helps them name clear goals. Arlene works to build skills for coping with shame, grief, and difficult memories while also addressing relationship patterns like codependency or commitment worries.

Over four decades she has worked with many kinds of concerns that often overlap, such as abandonment, adoption and foster care issues, and aging and geriatric issues. She draws on evidence-based therapeutic techniques to guide conversations and to shape concrete practices clients can try between sessions. Arlene offers steady support while encouraging clients to try new ways of relating and problem solving.

Her approach is collaborative and respectful. She helps people identify small changes that lead to bigger shifts over time. If you want a therapist who values your perspective and works toward practical outcomes, she may be a good match.

To begin, complete the site's short questionnaire and schedule according to availability. Sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

Evidence-based approaches and online practice

Arlene uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on clear, practical work. One common approach she employs helps people process traumatic memories and reduce their day-to-day distress by breaking problems into manageable parts and building coping skills. Another approach emphasizes relationship patterns and attachment, helping people notice repeated dynamics and try different ways of connecting to partners or loved ones.

Choosing the best approach is part of the work together. She discusses goals and preferences with each person and adjusts methods as needed. The process is collaborative - clients’ experiences guide which techniques are emphasized and when to try new practices.

The therapist's specific online session formats are not listed here, so confirm current session options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit appointments into a busy week, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when a full session isn't needed. It can also let people continue work through life transitions and aging-related changes without rearranging distant commitments.