Jill Katell, LMFT - Therapist in California

Trauma and abuse
Self esteem
Career guidance

About Jill

Jill Katell is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT, practicing in California with 25 years of experience. She helps people struggling with trauma and abuse, low self-esteem, career uncertainty, and major life changes. Her work also addresses stress, anxiety, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, eating and sleeping concerns, and mood conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.

Jill uses straightforward conversation to identify what matters most now. Sessions focus on clear goals and practical steps people can try between meetings. She encourages honest talk about feelings, patterns, and setbacks, and helps people weigh options when they feel stuck.

Her background includes many years supporting people through transitions like job changes, parenting strain, caregiving stress, and loss. She also has experience with attachment and abandonment concerns, adoption and foster care issues, and difficulties linked to autism spectrum traits and avoidant or dependent personality patterns.

People who work with her often address communication problems, commitment worries, body image and eating-related difficulties, and the emotional impact of cancer or chronic caregiving. Jill attends to co-occurring problems so a conversation about one issue can also consider related stressors and practical coping.

Her approach emphasizes steady progress over time. She helps clients build clearer routines for sleep and eating, plan small career or relationship steps, and practice ways to reduce day-to-day stress. To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a first session through the online options button.

Approaches you might use and how online work fits

Jill draws on evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on changing unhelpful patterns and building coping skills. Cognitive-style approaches look at how thoughts, beliefs, and self-talk affect mood and behavior, helping people test new ways of thinking and acting when anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem get in the way.

She also uses approaches that emphasis processing trauma and difficult emotions through guided conversation and paced exposure to distressing memories or feelings, which can reduce their power over daily life. For relationship and communication struggles, she employs practical skills training that practices clearer ways to ask for needs and set boundaries.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Jill generally collaborates with each person to decide what methods fit their goals, current difficulties, and preferences. She reviews progress and adjusts methods if something is not helping.

This profile does not list specific session formats, so confirm available online options before booking. Many people find online therapy helps fit sessions into busy schedules, reduces travel time, and makes it easier to check in during transitional periods like starting a job or moving. Online work can also allow shorter check-ins when time is limited, or audio-only meetings when camera use is difficult. Talk with her when you schedule to set a practical format that works for your routine.

Areas of expertise

Primary focus

Trauma and abuse Self esteemCareer difficultiesCoping with life changesCompassion fatigue

Also works with

Stress, AnxietyRelationship issuesFamily conflictsGrief Intimacy-related issuesEating disordersSleeping disordersParenting issuesAnger managementBipolar disorderDepression ADHD

Additional focus areas

AbandonmentAdoption and foster careAging and geriatric issuesAttachment issuesAutism and Asperger SyndromeAvoidant personalityBody imageCancerCaregiver issues and stressCo-morbidityCommitment issues Communication problemsDependent personalityEating and food-related issuesEmptinessFamily of origin issuesFamily problemsForgivenessHoardingHospice and end-of-life counselingImpulsivityIntellectual disabilityLife purposeMidlife crisisMood disorders Multicultural concerns Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD Panic disorder and panic attacksPersonality disordersPhobiasPostpartum depressionPost-traumatic stress Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)Self-harmSomatizationTraumatic brain injuryWomen's issuesYoung adult issues

Experience

25+ years

Listed in

California

Languages

English

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns does she address?

She works with trauma and abuse, self-esteem, career issues, stress, anxiety, grief, relationship and intimacy-related problems, eating and sleeping difficulties, mood concerns like depression and bipolar, ADHD, and related topics listed in her specialties.

What is her therapy style like?

Her style is conversational and goal-focused. She helps people set small, practical steps and talks through emotions and patterns without judgment.

How long has she practiced?

She has 25 years of professional experience working with a range of adult concerns and life transitions.

What are her credentials and where does she practice?

She is an LMFT licensed in California and practices with clients based in that state.

Does she offer sessions in other languages or to international clients?

Sessions are offered in English. International clients are not currently accepted.

What session formats are used?

This profile does not list specific session formats. Confirm current session options before booking to know how meetings are held.

How are costs handled?

Cost varies with location and sessions are provided through a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

How do I start working with her?

Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule your first session.

Online talk therapy through BetterHelp is for adults aged 18 and over and is not emergency care. If you are in danger, use the emergency numbers. Find someone else by name.