About Brenda
Brenda Wicks helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, grief, relationship strains, parenting challenges, and life transitions. She is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 23 years of experience. Brenda offers a direct, warm approach that aims to make the first steps easier for worried people and their loved ones.
She keeps sessions practical and focused. Brenda listens first, then works with each person to set clear, achievable goals.
How Brenda works
Her style is interactive and supportive, mixing steady guidance with tools people can use between sessions. Brenda draws on client-centered work to keep conversations grounded in each person’s priorities. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help identify unhelpful thinking and build healthier habits.
Dialectical behavior strategies and mindfulness practices are used when people need skills for emotional regulation and stress management. Over two decades she has helped people through addiction, trauma and abuse, anger, and complex mood concerns including bipolar and disruptive mood dysregulation. She also addresses attachment and abandonment worries, body image, caregiver stress, codependency, and communication or commitment issues.
Sessions are offered in English and delivered by video call, phone session, live chat, or text-based messaging. Brenda works with people across a wide range of concerns and adapts the approach to fit individual needs. If someone wants to begin, they complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule according to therapist availability.
Brenda lists 7 ways of working on the entry:
What Brenda works with
The areas below are the ones Brenda selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Grief
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 23 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | California |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Brenda’s approaches translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the person’s own goals and priorities. Sessions start with listening and building a trusting working relationship, which helps guide what to focus on next. This approach is useful for people facing grief, relationship or identity struggles.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It teaches practical exercises to change patterns that worsen anxiety, depression, or addictive behaviors. CBT is often used to set homework and measurable steps between sessions.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, offers skills for managing intense emotions and improving interpersonal effectiveness. It includes concrete techniques for distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and better communication.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Brenda collaborates with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That means trying strategies, reviewing what helps, and adjusting the plan together.
Online therapy with Brenda is offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is useful for a full conversation and visual cues, while phone calls use less bandwidth and can be easier to fit into a busy day. Live chat or messaging work well for shorter check-ins, written reflection, or skill coaching between longer sessions. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to use around work, school, and caregiving duties.
Start online instead of waiting
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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