About Macarena
Macarena Santelices is a licensed clinician with 14 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and relationship concerns. She holds an MD and is licensed as an LCPC and LPCC in California. She emphasizes meeting people where they are and building on existing strengths to reach practical goals.
Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. She talks through current problems and helps clients build skills they can use day to day.
How Macarena works
Sessions focus on clear goals, simple strategies, and small steps that add up over time. Macarena often uses tools from cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that keep people stuck. She also draws on dialectical behavior therapy skills to manage strong emotions and improve communication.
Mindfulness practices are offered to help with stress, focus, and responding rather than reacting. She has experience helping people facing family stress, parenting challenges, caregiver strain, chronic pain or illness, and life transitions such as midlife changes or financial strain. Other areas she supports include attachment and abandonment concerns, body image, isolation, guilt and shame, and finding life purpose.
Sessions are presented in a straightforward manner with practical takeaways after each meeting. The aim is to leave people feeling a bit more capable and with a clear next step. Macarena encourages steady progress through concrete skills and compassionate support.
Macarena lists 3 ways of working on the entry:
What Macarena works with
The areas below are the ones Macarena selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Registers | MD, LCPC, LPCC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 14 |
| 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
Practical therapy approaches for online care
Macarena uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help identify unhelpful thoughts and change behaviors that reinforce anxiety or low mood. CBT focuses on clear, teachable techniques that can reduce worry and improve coping in daily life.She also draws on dialectical behavior therapy skills to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and better communication. DBT skills are useful when feelings feel intense or when someone wants more effective ways to express needs and set boundaries.
Finding the right approach is a joint process. The therapist will work with each person to match methods to their goals, needs, and preferences. Together they decide which skills to try first and adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and situations. Video works well for more interactive skill work, phone can be a good option when bandwidth is limited, and text or chat supports short check-ins or ongoing practice between sessions. These formats make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into a busy life.
Start online instead of waiting
Our partner service asks a few questions about what you are looking for and matches you with a therapist for sessions from home.
Book with MacarenaWe will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.
Common questions
What kinds of concerns does she help with?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How long has she been practicing?
What credentials does she hold and where is she based?
Which languages are offered for sessions?
What session formats are available?
How are sessions priced?
How do I begin working with her?
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.
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you. Entries are not assessed or endorsed by this directory.
Other entries for stress, anxiety
Supportive LCSW helping people build strength and clarity
Practical, trauma-aware therapy for everyday life
Practical, relational therapy for life transitions