About Richard
Richard Henegar is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 40 years of professional experience. He helps people manage stress, anxiety, anger, low self-esteem, and depression.
Background and approach
He works to create a respectful, sensitive space where people can start to feel understood. He uses practical conversation and flexible plans that fit each person’s situation.
Sessions focus on clear goals, problem-solving, and skills people can try between meetings. He adjusts the pace and tools to match what the client needs and prefers.
Richard draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that keep problems going. He also uses dialectical behavior methods to teach emotional regulation and coping skills for intense feelings.
Emotionally-focused ideas support deeper connections to feelings and relationships when those are part of the concern. Over four decades he has helped people navigate family conflict, blended family challenges, divorce and separation, and communication problems.
He also supports work around trauma, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive patterns, panic, and mood disorders. People who reach out can expect straightforward language and a steady, patient approach.
He aims to make the work understandable and usable. Taking the first step can be hard, and he acknowledges that effort while helping people move forward.
How evidence-based approaches fit into online therapy
Richard commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice and change thinking patterns that feed anxiety or depression. CBT often involves setting specific practice tasks and tracking thoughts between sessions to build new habits.He also uses dialectical behavior therapy skills to teach emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. DBT techniques can help when feelings are intense or reactions feel hard to control, offering step-by-step tools to try during everyday life.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. He will discuss goals and preferences and then recommend one or a mix of methods. That selection is collaborative and can change as progress is made.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video works well for deeper conversations and visual cues, phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier during a busy day, live chat is useful for brief check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between meetings. These options make therapy more flexible for people with varied schedules and locations.
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Anger management
Also works with
- Blended family issues
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 40 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English