Meet Emily Mandelstam, AMFT

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Emily is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who brings warmth, honesty, and humor into the therapy room to help clients feel safe enough to do meaningful work. She is especially skilled at working with individuals and couples who feel stuck in patterns they do not fully understand and people who want practical tools alongside deeper insight. Emily is foundationally trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), including DBT Adherence and DBT-PE for trauma, and uses evidence-based approaches to support clients in creating real change while also honoring where they are in the process.

Emily has over two years of experience providing comprehensive DBT, including individual therapy, adolescent work, couples counseling, and facilitating DBT skills groups. From the start of her career, she knew she wanted to specialize in relationship work. She enjoys supporting couples across all relationship structures and is knowledgeable in kink-affirming care. Her clinical interests also include relationship conflict, infidelity, substance use, grief, anxiety, depression, life transitions, borderline personality disorder, suicidality, and working with cis men as they unlearn harmful societal expectations.

In her work with couples, Emily helps partners slow conflict down, understand what is driving their reactions, and identify how they want to move forward together. With adolescents, she centers therapy around identity development, autonomy, and navigating systems that often limit self-expression. Her style blends warmth with candor and creates a collaborative, nonjudgmental space where clients can say the hard things and feel supported while doing so.

Emily’s approach to therapy is grounded in the balance between acceptance and change. While DBT is the foundation of her work, she also integrates Narrative Therapy and behavioral strategies to help clients leave sessions with clarity and direction. She believes deeply in client autonomy and views therapy as a partnership where the client sets the course and the therapist helps navigate.

Emily earned her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Alliant International University and her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to becoming a therapist, she spent a decade in corporate project management and brings that systems-level understanding into her work with individuals and couples navigating complex dynamics.

Emily works under the supervision of Fae Feliciano, LCSW #103952, a licensed clinical social worker who provides clinical oversight and support as Emily continues to develop her professional skills. This supervision ensures that clients receive thoughtful, ethical care informed by consultation and clinical accountability.

As a first-generation Russian-Jewish clinician, Emily brings an appreciation for resilience, humor, and complexity into her work. She believes that clients deserve clarity, respect, and collaboration in therapy and is committed to providing affirming care for LGBTQIA+, ENM, and kink communities. Emily offers both in-person sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and evenings, and telehealth sessions throughout the week.

If you are looking for a therapist who is direct, compassionate, and deeply invested in helping you understand yourself and your relationships, Emily welcomes the opportunity to work with you.