Shaped by global experience, personal healing, and a belief in collective care
I'm Deniz, and I'm glad you're here. Welcome.
When we work together, you won’t just have a therapist—you’ll find an appreciative ally.
I am an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (#154984, Supervised by Tom Andre (LMFT119254), offering virtual therapy across California. I live and work in Los Angeles, on the ancestral lands of the Gabrielino/Tongva people. I provide therapy in English and Turkish, and I speak Spanish professionally.
I was born in Istanbul and have lived, worked, and been shaped across continents—North America, Latin America, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands. I’m white, multiethnic, and multicultural. As a third culture kid (TCK), I’ve always straddled identities, cultures, and geographies—belonging everywhere and nowhere at once. From an early age, I moved through communities shaped by different languages, faiths, races, and ways of life. These experiences taught me to appreciate differences and the pain of exclusion. I learned to listen deeply, to notice what’s left unsaid, and to hold space for the complexity of identity and belonging.
I value connection over competition, care over individualism, and belonging over conformity.
Before becoming a therapist, I spent over a decade working in global community development. I stood alongside people rebuilding their lives after community violence, displacement, natural disasters, and systemic oppression. I worked in both rural villages and dense urban centers, but what stayed with me most were the relationships: the quiet laughter amid grief, the small acts of dignity, the moments of shared recognition that didn’t need words. Those moments are what brought me to this work.
I’ve navigated the realities of serious illness, including cancer. I have been a member of Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA), a 12-step program. These experiences shape how I sit with others—with humility, presence, and deep respect for each person’s unique path through suffering and the search for meaning amid the often-insensitive world we live in.
I hold two master’s degrees: one in Clinical Psychology (specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy) from Antioch University Los Angeles, and another in International Policy (specialization in Human Development and Humanitarian Aid) from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Outside of therapy, I find joy in nature, poetry, cooking, gardening, and time with my dog, my family, and my community. These simple rhythms keep me grounded.
