Larissa Manalansan (she/her)

You can experience more fulfillment in your life and relationships! I’m here to support you.

Hi! I’m Larissa.

I’m the type of therapist who understands how much it hurts when you feel like you have let people down or when people you love are unhappy with you. We can work together to help you learn how to turn off the negative self talk, express your own needs and no longer feel overwhelming guilt & shame.

My clients tell me that after therapy with me they better understand themselves without all the self judgment. They feel supported to make sense of things that usually feel overwhelming and messy–like they’d rather not deal with the mess even though the issues are causing problems.

I provide trauma therapy for adults:

I help people pleasers feel confident and worthy of love.

You’ve spent years prioritizing others’ needs while quieting your own. You’ve tried to keep the peace, avoid disappointment and prevent rejection. Asking for what you need feels selfish and setting boundaries can bring on waves of guilt. Inside you feel exhausted, resentful–and you’ve noticed that even when you’re praised you still feel like you’re never enough.

Through therapy, you can feel safe to be yourself, worthy, and free.

I also provide couples therapy:

I help emotionally disconnected couples who deeply want to find their way back to one another.

You have been together for a long time and cares deeply about one another, but you’ve grown apart emotionally. One partner tends to over-function, managing the household, emotionally supporting the kids, and carrying the mental load, and quietly resents carrying so much. The other partner tends to shut down or avoid conflict, unsure how to meet their partner’s emotional needs. One feels unseen and overburdened, and the other feels like they’re constantly falling short. You both want closeness, but you are stuck in old patterns that leave you feeling alone, even when you’re in the same room.

Through therapy, you can feel connected, appreciated, and safe to be vulnerable opening up to each other.

On a personal note…

Outside of therapy, you can usually find me on a scenic walk or hike, playing wall ball or HORSE with my two sons, baking sourdough bread, making a homemade matcha or hojicha latte, or trying a random new hobby (currently hand knitting). I love deep conversations, self-development books, heart-wrenching films, and the kind of food worth traveling for, like Peruvian ceviche and mochi donuts.

I believe healing happens in the every day moments. Friends and loved ones say they can be completely themselves with me, which is something I deeply value, even as I’m still learning to hold that same space for myself. Because the truth is: therapists are human too, and we’re all on the path of becoming.

Love Heal Grow Residency Trainings
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level I, Level 2, Trauma & Infidelity
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy w/ Sue Johnson
Emotionally Focused Therapy for Individuals w/ Sue Johnson
Sex Therapy: Common Sexual Concerns of Individuals & Couples, LGBTQIA Affirming Therapy, Alternative Sexualities/Non Traditional Relationships
Trauma Therapy
Anti-Racism & Culturally Affirming Care