Elara N Montagno, MS, LMFT, RYT

Do you feel unhappy in your current life situation despite seeming to have it all together from the outside looking in? Do you feel lost, depressed, anxious or have low self-esteem? Are you a high achiever who struggles to embody a life full of joy and fulfillment? Are your relationships struggling? As a holistic psychotherapist and coach I can work with you to move through difficult emotions and past experiences to rediscover and tune back into your truest, healthiest and happiest self. You deserve to thrive; I will support you in cultivating your own inner strength and skills to evolve into your best self and live a life of joy and authenticity. I am a warm and empathetic person who creates a safe and welcoming place for you to unpack, heal, grow, and transform. I specialize in using non-pathologizing modalities with a blend of teachings from clinical psychology, neuroscience, and spirituality to create a unique form of healing work to understand the root cause of your suffering and liberate you from it. In addition to my Master's in Clinical Psychology, I have specialized training in many holistic modalities, including: hatha yoga, meditation, yoga nidra, holotropic breathwork, sound healing, shamanism and psychedelic preparation/integration work to take you much deeper than talk therapy alone. My goal is to individualize our work to your needs and goals. A little about me... I was born in the beautiful country of Brazil, where I first developed my love, respect, and appreciation for living in alignment with nature. From a young age I recognized how we as humans are just as deserving of the space we occupy as the forests, oceans, rivers, animals and plants. We all belong. We are all connected as part of a larger whole. In elementary school I moved to the United States and my world was turned upside down. This transition lead to many years of anger, depression, and anxiety which estranged me from this feeling of belonging and connection that I once felt. For many years, I was living a life that wasn't my own. I did my best to survive, to fit in, to make sense of it all. After a while, I didn't recognize the person in the mirror. I knew there was more to life than feeling like this. The benefit I experienced from seeking personal therapy started me on my never ending journey of self healing and introspection. Eager to learn more about myself and this complex human experience, I pursued higher education in Psychology. I graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor's in Clinical Psychology and continued on to graduate summa cum laude with a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology, both from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. I then followed my heart to San Diego, CA where I immersed myself in the healing benefits of nature, yoga, meditation, and holistic wellness. As a constant student, I continued gain trainings in yoga, meditation, yoga nidra, sound healing, breathwork, earth medicine, reiki energy work, shamanism, and regenerative permaculture. I continue to study ways to heal and connect with the mind, body, spirit, and earth both for myself and the clients I serve. Throughout my 12 years as a therapist I have worked with a wide range of populations in very diverse treatment settings, including inpatient hospitals, school systems, in home services, residential recovery centers, outpatient facilities, and in research. I've worked with individuals from many cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, ages ranging from 3 years old to senior citizens. I've taken the best of many clinical therapeutic treatment modalities and combined it with my passion for holistic health and created a unique form of healing for my clients. My intention is to encourage my clients to back in touch with the earth, their bodies, the systems that support them and the truest versions of themselves. I specialize in treating depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, attachment wounds and facilitating pre and post psychedelic integration work. Clinically, I resonate with a humanistic / client centered approach and I especially enjoy incorporating systems work, meditation, breath work, self-love work, yoga nidra, shamanic healing and overall holistic coaching and wellness into my sessions. I'd love to get to know you and your needs and guide you on your journey of self healing and abundant wellness.