MEET DR. VALERIA KROCAK
Having experienced war, natural disaster, and immigration as a young child, I saw firsthand the psychological and physical impacts of trauma on people.
It wasn’t until I was a practicing clinician, however, that I learned that trauma includes more than life-threatening experiences. Emotional, physical, sexual abuse, bullying, and neglect are all traumatic experiences that shape how we feel about ourselves and our relationships with others.
If you’re tired of living with the aftermath of trauma, please know that healing is possible. You don’t have to live with constant anxiety, depression, insomnia, loneliness, and insecurity in yourself.
Therapy can help you to feel more calm, content, confident in yourself, and connected to the people in your life.
MY APPROACH
Psychodynamic Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Mindfulness
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy
Eye Movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
I believe that effective psychotherapy involves both alleviating the presenting symptoms that you experience, as well as dealing with the underlying issues that contribute to the symptoms. That is, I see difficulties such as depression, anxiety, or disordered eating as a signal that something is wrong or off balance in your life. It is important to not only give you some immediate emotional relief, but also to understand and treat the factors that are contributing to your pain.
I believe that to truly understand our present experience, we need to know and understand our past. In therapy, we will work together to make connections to make sense of experiences that may have been puzzling or confusing. I believe that this type of understanding can help you in being more compassionate and accepting of yourself, as well as give you more freedom to make different choices in your life.
I believe that our relationships with other people are extremely important in shaping our sense of self and our view of the world. Often, problems in relationships are intimately connected to emotional difficulties. In therapy, I will work with you to explore your relationships with others and to change patterns that no longer work for you.
I hope to meet with you and have the privilege of walking with you in your healing journey. I am currently seeing clients in person in Torrance, CA and can serve any resident in the state of California virtually via telehealth.
SPECIALTIES
Trauma
Eating Disorders
Relationship Difficulties
ISSUES
Anxiety
Depression
Family Conflict
Life Transitions
Self-Esteem
Peer Relationships
Women’s Issues
Stress
Grief
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
Begin Your Journey Toward Meaningful Change
In-person therapy in Torrance, or virtually for residents across California through secure telehealth sessions.