Gia Castiglia Schwarzer, LMFT
Practical, collaborative therapy for everyday challenges
About Gia
Gia Castiglia Schwarzer uses a collaborative, practical approach to help people handle stress and life changes. She is a California licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with seven years of professional experience.
Background and approach
Gia keeps sessions focused and straightforward so busy people can fit therapy into real life. Gia helps with anxiety, depression, grief, and parenting challenges.
She also supports people dealing with relationship difficulties, intimacy-related issues, anger, addictions, and trauma and abuse. Young adult issues and compassion fatigue are additional areas she addresses.
Her style centers on helping people find solutions that work for them. Gia treats each person as the expert on their own life and looks for strengths to build on.
She often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques to notice patterns and try new ways of thinking and acting. Gia studied psychology and political science at the University of California, Irvine and earned a Master of Arts in Psychology from Chapman University.
She has worked in independent practice and in school settings and returned to counseling after a break to raise a family. In sessions she focuses on practical steps and small experiments that connect to everyday life.
The goal is to uncover useful resources already inside each person and to translate them into changes that feel manageable and sustainable.
Practical approaches for online therapy and change
Gia uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and swap them for more useful alternatives. CBT is helpful for anxiety, depression, stress, and many day-to-day problems because it focuses on small, doable experiments that change how situations feel.Gia’s work is collaborative. She will talk with each person about their goals and try approaches that fit those goals and personal preferences. Finding the right blend of techniques is part of the process and she adjusts methods together with the client based on what helps most.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy flexible. Video lets people use face-to-face conversation when that’s helpful. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and messaging suit shorter updates, written reflection, or times when typing is easier than being on camera. These options aim to make it simpler to keep therapy consistent amid work, school, and family demands.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Gia focus on?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What are her credentials and where is she based?
Which languages are available for sessions?
Can international clients schedule with her?
What session formats does she offer online?
How are costs and getting started handled?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also works with
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English