
Avery Garrett
(he/they)
Associate Clinical Social Worker #112008
Supervised by Kristen Zaleski, LCSW #24996
I believe everyone deserves a good therapist, because being a person is hard. I specialize in working with LGBTQIA+ folx who are grappling with OCD, anxiety, identity formation, and burnout.
As a queer, transmasculine, biracial, and neurodivergent person, I understand firsthand what it’s like to feel misunderstood, pathologized, and forced into boxes that don’t quite fit. My approach as a therapist is relational, affirming, and egalitarian. I am poly/ENM-friendly, sex-positive, and practice from a Health at Every Size Perspective. I draw on a range of modalities, including psychodynamic (talk) therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, DBT, and parts work/inner child healing.
I have over 10 years of education, training, and experience working in the mental health field. I received my Bachelors in Cognitive Science from UCLA and completed my graduate work at USC. I’ve provided therapy, assessment, and advocacy in a range of environments including crisis settings, hospitals, and community mental health. I also contributed to large-scale OCD, anxiety, and depression research studies at UCSF, Stanford, and UCLA.
In addition to individual therapy, I run several groups for queer folx including gender identity support groups and process groups for recovering people pleasers. I also offer relationship therapy for you and the important humans in your life- romantic partners, friends, creative partners, etc.
I see adolescent and adult clients in Hermosa Beach and virtually throughout the state of California.