About Gail
Dr. Gail Masterson brings nearly three decades of clinical experience to her work in California. She holds a PhD in Psychology, a Master of Arts in Marriage Family Therapy, and practices as a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT).
She frames therapy as a collaborative process that begins by listening to each person's story. Gail combines practical coaching with thoughtful questioning to help people find manageable next steps. She is comfortable offering both shorter, solution-focused work and longer-term psychotherapy.
How Gail works
Her background includes early teletherapy experience and work with nationally distributed radio psychotherapy programs. People come to her for many concerns, including stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and intimacy issues, parenting and family difficulties, grief, and career worries. She also supports those dealing with life transitions such as midlife change, pregnancy and childbirth, divorce, and caregiving stress.
Additional focus areas include aging and geriatric issues, fertility challenges, and end-of-life counseling. Her approach draws on client-centered methods, cognitive behavioral techniques, existential ideas, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing. Sessions aim to clarify what matters to the person and to identify concrete steps that fit their life.
Gail emphasizes practical problem solving delivered with empathy and respect. She offers work in English and provides remote sessions through video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. The first step is to share your story and explore what direction feels most useful for you.
Gail lists 7 ways of working on the entry:
What Gail works with
The areas below are the ones Gail selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self esteem
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 28 |
| 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 her approaches work online
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on hearing the person's experience and following their lead, which helps when people feel stuck or unsure of next steps. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at specific thoughts and behaviors and teaches practical tools to reduce anxiety, improve mood, and change unhelpful patterns. Motivational Interviewing helps people find their own reasons for change and build the motivation to act on goals.Choosing the right method is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most useful, and then try approaches that match the person's needs. This is a collaborative process and adjustments are made as progress and circumstances evolve.
Online sessions are available by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to offer flexibility. Video is useful for a closer conversational experience, phone calls can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat or text messaging can fit quick check-ins or people who prefer writing. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to continue work between in-person obligations.
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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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