Brittny McCarthy, LMFT

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Santa Monica, CA
Brittny McCarthy, LMFT

Brittny is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA #128352 + CO #2073)

01/06/2025

Today is my mother’s birthday. She would be 78 🤍

This photo of her and her dad take my breath away. I see my daughter (and myself) in her face. Her feet. Her little squat.

Mothering my daughter has been a very intentional re-mothering of myself. The early loss - I was 10 when she was diagnosed- was such an influential attachment rupture that has informed so much of my life and the was I work as a therapist 🤍

It’s also why I feel I have so much inside that has been brewing and simmering and getting ready for me to write and share more with you.

I have a lot more to say on grief, loss, re-parenting ourselves. For now, happy 78th mom!

07/24/2023

Today is International Self Care Day. When I looked up the origins of this day, the 7/24 is supposed to suggest 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

That feels like a lot of self-care pressure.

Like mental health, self care assumes and puts a lot of responsibility on individualism— when in reality, our ability to sustain “self care 7/24” relies a lot on systems, community, and circumstances.

So today, on this self care day I invite us to take it easy on ourselves and the systemic expectations and pressures around mental health, self care, and general life. And while we are taking it easy for a moment on this self care day give yourself some credit for pausing — maybe take a deeper breath. There. That’s it. 7/24 self care. Deeper breathing. Less pressure.

06/19/2023

As a therapist, I can’t help but wonder what was on this dad’s mind.

As his 4 year old daughter, I couldn’t possibly know what he was thinking in this moment. And it’s likely he wasn’t quite aware either.

As a therapist, I’m very interested in the stories of our fathers and how they affect us, and our sense of self. On this Father’s Day wishing all of us the self compassion, no matter what kind of dad we had or didn’t have, to reflect on their roles in our lives. And how they shape and influence our early efforts to make sense of the world around us.

Sending love and appreciation to this dad. For being exactly the dad I must have needed in this life.

06/15/2023

👋 Hi! It’s been a while. So I thought I’d (re) introduce myself and what this account is for.

For now the basics:

I’m Brittny- a psychotherapist seeing clients in person and online. My office, which I recently moved into, is located in Santa Monica CA.

My professional, public facing social media accounts are to share and learn about therapy. I’m not a huge content creator for the purposes of acquiring a lot of followers. Rather these social media spaces provide a spot for me to share writings, insights or thoughts in regards to our individual and collective healing journeys. And to learn from others.

I think about the healing and growth process a lot. It gives me purpose and grounds me into life— amidst all the chaos. More on that for the next post.

In the meantime check out my website refresh in my bio link ⬆️ I’d love to hear from you!

11/19/2021

I am now fully licensed in both the State of Colorado and the State of California. I am seeing all of my clients online via Tele-health for the forseeable future. I know it's been difficult to find a good therapist with client openings and if I'm not the right therapist for you-- I'm happy to help refer you to my therapist colleagues.

01/11/2021

The first time I was invited to be curious about my whiteness, I was as an undergraduate when I read “The Invisible Backpack.”

It would be another 20 years in a course preparing me to be a therapist where I, for the first time, would learn there was process of coming to know ourselves that included white peoples’ coming to terms with their identity as “white.” I had unconsciously assumed this was a process only for non-white people.

My life - and that of every other white person- doesn’t require me to be curious or examine my whiteness. Not only is this a privilege — to only learn about it academically — but it is also at the great and immoral expense of Black, Brown, Indigenous and other non-white people.

In the ways my life has been affirmed without my second thought— those ways negatively affect my non-white sisters and brothers in dangerous and life-threatening ways. Every minute of every day. Meanwhile, I spent 6 academic credit hours.

I am actively choosing — consciously choosing— to examine my whiteness.

I invite all of my white friends, family, and colleagues to join me in this process of curiosity about being white and what it means to be white and the roles we play in whiteness.

Here’s a good start 👇🏼

04/17/2020

I’ve returned to my private practice following my maternity leave. It’s a “new normal” world. But I’m also in new skin. I’m excited to be a new mom, glad to be working with my clients again, and grateful to be in a practice of mindfulness. Feel free to reach out- I’m also taking on new clients. Sessions are, of course, online. 📷

01/31/2020

I’m officially on maternity leave. At this time, I am not holding sessions, taking on new clients, or responding to voicemails, emails, or texts. My plan is to return to my office in early April 2020. I look forward to reconnecting then. This time away is intended to support my transition into motherhood and healthy bonding with bebé. Thank you for all of the support during this time of personal and professional transition 🙏🏽

10/18/2019

“It makes me happy to make something that looks nice.” 🎨

One of my kid clients said this about turning play dough into a mama cat in a cat bed with a kitten on her head. She delighted in her effort and giggled at herself. 🐱

Art therapy is one way I work when I work with children. It can unlock their words and self awareness. Working with children may not be for every therapist- but it is a joy for me and it informs my work with adults. When we are children much of life is happening to and around us and we are busy making sense of it.

Therapy helps kids make sense of things and develop coping strategies. As adults, our work in therapy becomes the untangling of how we made sense of stuff that as children we simply couldn’t always make sense of 🤷🏼‍♀️ 🤷‍♂️

When we allow ourselves to give shape to something— whether a blob of dough or a blank piece of paper or a confusing memory — we gain a sense of accomplishment, insight, perspective. All things that help us continue to make sense of the world around us. Whether a kid or an adult — unlocking these possibilities within us is healing and empowering.

09/19/2019

I’ve been a little quiet here while I started a journey of focusing a little more inward 💫

I’m sharing this news here on my professional profile because it will affect my work and my clients. I’ve started to share more publicly that I am having a baby— due to arrive in February.

I am very excited and have been enjoying the journey so far. It was difficult in the beginning to keep this news private. It felt like I was keeping a secret- which I struggled with. What I love though is that every one of my personal life moments and experiences continues to inform my work. I love being a therapist and already love being a mother.

For those of you who may be wondering- I will take some time off after her arrival. But I plan to return to my private practice after a couple of months of bonding time. I have been letting new, current and prospective clients know the news and my plans— as much as any of us can plan for this experience!

09/16/2019

Do you sometimes wish you had reacted differently or think of something “better” to say afterwards? Mindfulness can help with that 🧠

Our brains learn how to react to certain situations and certain people (we all have ‘em). And in certain situations we all are prone to over or under reaction.

Taking time to practice mindfulness can help to “retrain” our brain to use the slower, smarter parts of our brains. Relational experiences will feel less conflicted and decision making more sound.

We can also de-escalate and make better situations we find ourselves in that in the past - our reactions - may have made worse or more difficult or resulted in something we didn’t really want to have happen.

05/27/2019

No one said it would be easy 😣

Mindfulness + its various forms, such as meditation, are not supposed to be “easy” ( nor difficult but that’s a different post ☺️). The more we practice the more *ease we will bring to ourselves, the people around us, and life.

The most challenging part of a mindfulness practice is the beginning— of which there are various beginnings in a mindfulness practice.

The beginning is where we confront ourselves. And that— is difficult. Our thoughts. Ideas. The walls to our own hearts. In the beginning we start to notice and become aware. And that can be very difficult. To wake up to our own patterns, falsehoods, pains and suffering. And that’s why people say they can’t meditate or that mindfulness is difficult. Because it is not easy to stay in the beginning with our own selves and thoughts. But if we stay— I promise— we will also make contact with so much more — our own joy and love. Expansive. Transformative. Healing experience. And the ability to be with difficult.

Happy Mindful Monday.

Address

2730 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA
90403

Website

http://www.Brittny.com/

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