"People start healing the moment they feel heard..."
Leisha Borja, MA, LMFT
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Owner & Clinical Director of Thriving Lotus Family Therapy Group, INC
My Story
I completed graduate school at Pepperdine University in 2011 and have been practicing as a psychotherapist since 2010. I became a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in 2014. In response to the critical need of mental services during the 2019 COVID Pandemic, I opened up Thriving Lotus Family Therapy Group, INC to serve more people within the community of Santa Clarita and state of California.
Prior to my work as a Marriage & Family Therapist, I provided positive parenting and behavioral therapy to children with special needs. Post-graduate, I completed an externship in Functional Family Therapy and am experienced in assisting families to decrease incidences in acting out adolescents. I am a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional with International Association of Trauma Professionals.
I come from a second-generation, Southeast Asian culture and have a deep understanding of the struggles of adolescents and their families adjusting to western cultural values. I am a survivor of trauma, which has given me great insight of my clients experiencing PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
My other passions are yoga, hiking, sushi, coffee, and being a boy mom.
My Approach
I take on a client-centered approach that focuses on strengths and empathy to empower and motivate an individual through the therapeutic process. Some individuals prefer a more goal-oriented approach and I often combine client-centered with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT changes maladaptive thoughts or errors in thinking, in an effort to change negative emotions and behavior. My passion is providing a systems approach in supporting families in finding solutions to the problem together. I also, utilize Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) from a trauma perspective to help couples and individuals understand their level of engagement and disengagement from an attachment perspective and assist to gain safe, emotional connectedness with their partners and others.