Psychology Today: www.psychologytoday.com/profile/70050 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/marina.on.marriage 

Marina Edelman, founder of TrueMe® Counseling, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with more than 20 years of experience working with couples, individuals, and families. Her practice focuses on helping clients build happiness, harmony, resilience, and stronger emotional connection within relationships.

She offers both in-person sessions in the Westlake Village / Thousand Oaks area as well as online therapy, allowing clients throughout California to access support.

Marina works with couples experiencing a wide range of relationship concerns, including:

• • Interpersonal relationships
  • Financial infidelity or financial stress
  • Communication difficulties
  • Emotional disconnection
  • Intimacy concerns
  • Life transitions affecting relationships
  • Premarital counseling

Her clinical approach integrates several well-established evidence-based therapies.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotionally Focused Therapy is one of the most widely studied approaches to couples therapy. The American Psychological Association has recognized EFT as a gold-standard evidence-based treatment for relationship distress.

Research has shown that 70–75% of couples move from distress to recovery, and approximately 90% experience meaningful improvements in relationship satisfaction.

EFT focuses on identifying emotional patterns that contribute to conflict and helping partners develop stronger emotional bonds and attachment security.

Gottman Method Couples Therapy

Marina also uses the Gottman Method, a research-based framework developed from more than 40 years of research with thousands of couples.

Key goals of the Gottman Method include:

• • Reducing negative communication cycles
  • Increasing emotional and physical intimacy
  • Addressing underlying sources of conflict
  • Building empathy, trust, and mutual understanding

Couples in therapy often complete a brief online relationship assessment before beginning sessions. This helps identify specific relationship strengths and areas that may need attention, allowing therapy to be more focused and effective.

Marina also offers workshops based on the Gottman 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work, which provide couples with practical skills to strengthen communication and emotional connection.

Individual and Family Therapy

In addition to couples therapy, Marina works with individuals experiencing:

• • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Career or life transitions
  • Co-parenting challenges and divorce adjustment

For these concerns, she frequently incorporates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which helps clients recognize unhelpful thought patterns and develop healthier coping strategies.

Her approach to therapy is collaborative and supportive, creating a space where clients can communicate openly, increase self-awareness, and work toward meaningful personal and relational growth.

Nicole Barkhordari is a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in relationship counseling and intimacy issues. Her practice focuses on helping couples navigate challenges related to communication, sexual compatibility, and life transitions.

Areas of focus often include:

• • Premarital counseling
  • Couples communication difficulties
  • Sexual health and intimacy
  • Relationship transitions and growth

Her work integrates elements of attachment theory and modern relationship psychology to help couples develop stronger emotional and physical connection.

Amanda Prince provides therapy for couples and individuals dealing with relationship stress, anxiety, and emotional disconnection.

Her clinical work often focuses on:

• • Couples conflict resolution
  • Emotional regulation skills
  • Stress management within relationships
  • Improving communication patterns

She works with couples at different stages of relationships, from premarital counseling to long-term partnership challenges.

Ashley Prechtl is a licensed therapist who works with couples, families, and individuals seeking to improve relational dynamics and emotional well-being.

Her therapy approach often incorporates:

• • Attachment-based therapy
  • Emotional regulation techniques
  • Communication skill development
  • Relationship pattern awareness

Her goal is to help couples better understand their relational patterns while building healthier and more supportive partnerships.

Julie Norvilas works with couples who want to improve emotional communication and create healthier relationship dynamics.

Her work focuses on helping couples:

• • Identify recurring relationship patterns
  • Develop more effective communication strategies
  • Improve emotional awareness within partnerships

She often uses collaborative therapy approaches that help partners understand how personal history and emotional experiences influence current relationship patterns.

Benefits often include:

• • Stronger nonverbal communication and body language cues
  • A dedicated space for reflection away from daily distractions
  • A structured environment that helps some people focus more deeply on therapy

For individuals who prefer a more personal interaction, face-to-face therapy can feel more engaging and emotionally connected.

Some research also suggests that in-person therapy may be especially helpful for complex psychological concerns that benefit from deeper interpersonal interaction.

This format has grown significantly in recent years because of its convenience and accessibility.

Benefits often include:

• • Attending therapy from home
  • Easier scheduling for busy professionals or parents
  • Access to therapists who may not be located nearby

Research has found that video-based psychotherapy can produce outcomes similar to in-person therapy for many mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. 

Online therapy can also reduce barriers such as travel time, transportation costs, or childcare challenges.

These services are sometimes used by people who prefer a more flexible way to communicate about emotional challenges.

Potential benefits include:

• • The ability to write messages at any time
  • More time to reflect before responding
  • A lower barrier for people who may feel uncomfortable speaking about sensitive issues initially

However, messaging therapy may not provide the same level of real-time interaction as video or in-person therapy, which is why many clinicians recommend it as a supplement rather than a replacement for traditional sessions.

Some clients prefer the structure of in-person sessions, while others appreciate the convenience of online therapy. Many therapists now offer both options, allowing clients to choose the format that feels most comfortable and supportive.

The most important factor is finding a therapist with whom you feel safe, understood, and motivated to work toward positive change.