Amy Anderson, LCSW

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San Diego, CA
Amy Anderson, LCSW

I offer services in person in San Diego, CA and telehealth for California & PA.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker trauma therapist who specializes with working with couples who have experienced trauma, anxiety, ADHD/OCD/CPTSD, and/or professional burnout.

11/19/2025

More couples are exploring psychedelic-assisted healing, but what actually creates long-term change isn’t the medicine itself. It’s what happens afterward.

In my newest blog, I talk about the power of integration therapy, how we take the insights from plant medicine journeys and turn them into deeper empathy, safer connection, and lasting transformation.

Inside, I share:
✨ Why integration matters more than the trip itself
✨ How to know if you and your partner are ready
✨ What it means to create safety, clarity, and intention before any experience
✨ The role of IFS, EMDR, and other trauma-informed tools in this work

💛 Read the full blog at www.amyandersontherapy.com

11/17/2025

This season, we’re not forcing silver linings or pretending everything is okay.
We’re holding space for the both/and:

You can be grateful and grieving.
You can appreciate moments and feel overwhelmed.
You can love your people and still need space.

In therapy, we talk a lot about honest gratitude, the kind that doesn’t erase your story, but honors where you’ve been and what you need now.

Whether you’re navigating trauma, burnout, two households, or just the emotional weight of this time of year… there’s room for you in this season, too.

11/15/2025

In this therapist reflection, I share what I wish more people knew about trauma and Thanksgiving:

🧡 Gratitude and grief can co-exist
🧡 Authentic boundaries are a form of appreciation
🧡 Compassion matters more than perfection

Wherever you are this season, navigating trauma, holding both joy and pain, or learning to connect differently, you deserve space to just be.

11/12/2025

Vulnerable narcissism sometimes looks like shame. Withdrawal. A fear of being misunderstood so deep it shuts everything down.

In this week’s blog, I unpack how vulnerable (or covert) narcissism shows up differently than the grandiose kind, and how it impacts connection, emotional safety, and accountability in relationships.

Through a trauma-informed lens, I explore what helps:
💭Building emotional safety before accountability
💭Working with the inner child, not just behavior
💭Using empathy-focused tools (like EFT, Schema & CFT)
💭Supporting the partner of someone navigating these traits

If you’ve ever felt like you’re walking on eggshells in your relationship, or if shame and self-protection keep getting in the way of closeness, this post might offer language, hope, and direction.

✨ New blog up now: Understanding Vulnerable Narcissism in Relationships
(Click on bio for website!)

11/10/2025

If you’re neurodivergent, or navigating inner child work, this season might feel more like managing overstimulation and expectations than enjoying "holiday cheer."

Here’s your gentle reminder:
- You’re allowed to meet this season with honesty, not performance.
- You’re allowed to set the pace.
- You’re allowed to care for the part of you that still needs quiet, permission, or soft structure.

Swipe through for some things your inner child might need this time of year, especially if you’re navigating ADHD, autism, or sensory sensitivity.

📍Therapy in CA & PA for neurodivergent adults and couples
💌 Link in bio to join the newsletter for resources like this

11/07/2025

The holidays can be magical and deeply overwhelming, especially in neurodiverse partnerships.

From sensory overload at family gatherings…
to executive functioning fatigue with endless to-do lists…
to masking in social settings just to keep the peace…

This season often brings unique triggers that don’t get talked about enough.

Swipe through to explore a few common holiday challenges for neurodivergent couples and how to approach them with more self-awareness, compassion, and connection.

11/05/2025

What if your communication struggles aren’t just about communication?

So often in couples therapy, I see that the real roadblocks aren’t just in what you’re saying, but in what your attachment style has learned to expect from love.

Your attachment style is the emotional blueprint you formed early in life, a deep part of how you seek connection, handle conflict, or respond to stress in relationships.

In this week’s blog, I break down:
🔹 The 4 main attachment styles
🔹 How they show up in everyday couple dynamics (think: codependency, burnout, conflict loops)
🔹 Why knowing your style, and your partner’s, can shift your entire relationship
🔹 How couples therapy helps you rewrite those patterns with evidence-based tools like EFT, Gottman Method, CBT, and IFS

Read the full blog on my website: https://www.amyandersontherapy.com/blogamys-anecdotes-advice

11/03/2025

This time of year can feel like one big performance. Smiles on cue. Gratitude on demand. Energy you don’t actually have.

As a trauma-informed therapist, I want to remind you:

You are allowed to be exactly where you are.

Joy doesn’t have to be loud or public or polished. Sometimes, joy is just a moment of breath, stillness, or real connection.

If you feel the pressure creeping in, try softening your expectations instead of yourself.

Let your boundaries be part of your self-care this season.

📍Therapy for trauma, burnout, and relational repair in CA & PA | Link in bio

10/31/2025

This time of year brings out costumes, candy, and celebration…

But for so many, it also brings up grief, overwhelm, sensory overload, hard memories, and the pressure to be cheerful when you're just trying to make it through.

So this post is for:
🍬Those navigating co-parenting or two-household holidays
🍬Those healing from loss or complicated family dynamics
🍬Neurodivergent folks feeling overstimulated or dysregulated
🍬Anyone struggling with body image, boundaries, or burnout

Whatever Halloween looks like for you, messy, magical, or somewhere in between, you’re not doing it wrong.

Take care of yourself tonight. You’re allowed to do it your way! Happy Halloween💜🎃

10/29/2025

🎃 Things are getting spooky over here…But not just because of Halloween! 👻🕷️

Life gets full this time of year; parties, costumes, sugar highs (and lows), and all the behind-the-scenes juggling parents do to make it “magical.”

However you’re celebrating, big or small, silly or cozy, I hope you give yourself permission to do it your way.

💛 No pressure to overextend.
💛 No shame if this week feels hard.
💛 No need to perform joy, just be where you are.

Halloween can bring up more than we realize, for kids and grown-ups alike. Whether it’s overstimulation, complex family dynamics, or memories of holidays that looked different, your experience is valid.

Take care of your nervous system.

Make space for rest.

And remember, it’s okay to make this week gentle.

From our spooky little corner to yours, sending you warmth and care. 🧡

10/27/2025

On Halloween, we wear masks for fun. In relationships, we sometimes wear them to protect the most tender parts of ourselves.

Maybe you wear the “I’m fine” mask when you’re really craving connection.

Maybe you become the fixer because asking for help feels too vulnerable.

Maybe your mask is humor, silence, control, or caretaking.

These masks aren't wrong, they were once essential.

They helped you survive childhood, trauma, rejection, or simply not feeling safe to be your full self.

In couples therapy, especially with an IFS (Internal Family Systems) lens, we gently explore those parts.
The parts that perform, protect, avoid, or shut down.
Not to shame them, but to understand them better. To offer them compassion. And to invite your partner to meet the real you underneath.

Because intimacy isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being seen, mask off, heart open, one step at a time.

🖤 This week, let’s honor the parts of us that learned to wear masks… and the parts ready to take them off.

10/24/2025

Navigating Halloween as Co-Parents?

For children with two homes, holidays can stir up big feelings: excitement, confusion, even grief. What helps them feel loved and secure isn’t perfection… Its presence.

🧡 In this post, I’m sharing simple ways co-parents can support kids during Halloween, whether that means sharing the day, alternating traditions, or simply checking in with what your child really needs to feel safe and seen.

✨ And if co-parenting feels especially tough this time of year, therapy can offer a grounded space to sort through logistics, emotions, and communication; so your child gets to feel loved by both of you, without being caught in the middle.

Swipe for small gestures that make a big emotional difference.

Address

2525 Camino Del Rio S
San Diego, CA
92108

Telephone

(619) 597-1505

Website

http://Www.amyandersontherapy.com/

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Breathe. It’s going to be ok.

Hello and thank you for checking out my page! I’m excited to offer clinical counseling services aimed to help you reduce distress surrounding life transitions (divorce/separation, relocation, new job or career path, new relationship, generational changes, etc.), anxiety, depression, substance abuse, relationship turbulence, and preparing and planning for healthier future life changes. I use Solution Focused, Strength Based, Trauma Informed therapeutic approaches that are also rooted in Positive Psychology and Cognitive Behavioral frameworks to help my clients achieve the life satisfaction they are looking for.

I offer these services in Central San Diego in Mission Valley on Tuesdays on a part time basis. I also offer Clinical Supervision for new and aspiring therapists who are pursing licensure in the state of California. I offer a weekly clinical supervision group as well as individual supervision appointments. Please feel free to give me a call or message me here if you have any further questions or would like to schedule a session!