About Cari

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Cari S. Cruckson, LMFT believes that one of the most important components of therapy is to feel comfortable in a safe, warm environment where clients can share and process their thoughts and feelings, and at the same time have a therapist who will be honest and provide specific skills to help the client make positive choices. 

Cari provides counseling to individuals and their families treating a variety of emotional and behavioral challenges; however she specializes in adolescents, transitional age youth (TAY), and adults with whom are experiencing anxiety (social phobias, school anxiety), depression, isolation, negative thinking, and diagnoses of high functioning Autism, ADHD and PTSD. She also provides therapy for parents of children with behavioral challenges such as non-compliance, verbal aggression, school refusal, and self-injurious behaviors as well as challenging teens. 

Cari has earned two Masters of Arts degrees, one being in Clinical psychology (2000) and the other Marriage and Family Therapy (2002) from Pepperdine University in Southern California. 

A California native, Cari started her career working with children and teens in the foster care system of Los Angeles focusing on communication skills and establishing their identity as someone other than a “foster child.” She has worked as a mental health clinician for large non-profit and county agencies focusing on youth in the community as well as children, adolescents and young adults in special education settings who displayed a variety of mental health needs.