Orange County, CA
Virtual and In-Person Appointments Offered. Learn More Here.
Mon -Friday 8am-7pm | Saturday 8am-12pm
FIND FREEDOM FROM SUFFERING
AND THE FREEDOM TO LIVE
BEYOND OFFERING THERAPY, WE PROVIDE A WAY OF LIFE AND HAPPINESS
Welcome to California's most trusted home for the mental wellbeing and spiritual flourishing of individuals, couples and families. As a top-rated center for personal growth and transformation, these clinicians come highly trained and widely experienced in a variety of highly effective treatment modalities. United by their passion to see each person exceed their potential, they won't give up on your journey without doing their best to see you succeed. At this center, you can learn what good mental health may look like in your life!
How to Get Started
1. Self book through this website or contact IFC via phone or email
2. IFC's client coordinator will respond to your inquiry, answer any questions you have and determine your level of need
3. A first-time appointment may be booked with one of our clinicians best suited to your needs. Intake paperwork and an email confirmation will be sent
4. Your clinician will meet with you at your first appointment to further discuss your needs and begin the process of treatment
5. Attend future appointments and experience therapeutic progress
For our practice policies, you may
review them here.
Meet the Founder, Monica M. Huston!
Monica graduated from Boston College with dual-degrees in Mental Health Counseling and Theological Studies. She is currently working towards
her 4-year certificate in Psychoanalysis from the Newport Psychoanalytic
Institute. As one of seven kids who grew up in Orange County, CA, she
observed how mental health issues negatively effected her siblings. As it
would turn out, the therapist her siblings needed was not to be found.
Inspired to become the ideal therapist for other peoples' brothers and sisters
that she would have wanted for her own, Monica works passionately to help
help all individuals find relief from mental health distress.
With her background in faith-based populations, hew motto was born: "If it's
not healthy mentally, then it's not holy spiritually!" Monica and her team work carefully to distinguish spiritual issues from mental ones. As she says, "Let's not
spiritualize issues which are pathological, and let's not pathologize issues which are spiritual."
Meet the IFC Team!
At IFC, you will find a team of warm, outgoing and resourceful therapists. Each clinician is trained in evidenced-based research and driven to help you experience
results. At IFC, you can expect:
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Immediate support and practical feedback
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To get in and get out- therapy geared towards making you independent
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Personal growth and transformation
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Positive improvements in your relationships
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Counseling services which value your cultural practices and spiritual beliefs
WE ARE DEDICATED TO IMPROVING THE WORLD ONE PERSON AT A TIME
MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
In-Home Marriage and Family
Therapist Intern
Therapeutic Training
& Support
JUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE
Working with a team of psychologists and mental health therapists in Boston, I provided counseling services to families seriously effected by trauma and struggling with PTSD. I received extensive training in family counseling and formulated evidence-based treatment plans to meet the family's most pressing needs.
JUSTICE RESOURCE INSTITUTE
I provided mental health services to individuals coping with PTSD, bipolar symptoms, anxiety, depression and relationship issues. I received extensive training in m role as a child therapist and adolescent therapist. I developed interventions targeted to assist youths with skills in identity development, emotional regulation and healthy attachment.
MY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
BOSTON COLLEGE; Mental Health Counseling
This program exposed me to a variety of psychological treatments used to heal mental issues resulting from poverty, violence, imprisonment, immigration, racism, sexism and oppression. I learned that careful listening, unconditional positive regard, and empathic responding are the primary elements of forming a therapeutic relationship.
Master's Degree
Master's Degree
BOSTON COLLEGE; Pastoral Theology
This program teaches students how to tend to the dimension of the “spirit” present in the individual seeking therapy. My religious educators have taught me how to listen to the religious material presented by clients in a way that is respectful, clinically useful, insightful and, ultimately, healing. I grew to appreciate the body-mind-spirit connection and devoted my thesis to distinguishing how spiritual issues differ from psychological ones. Holistic health and faith-based counseling became my passion and career.
ST. MARY'S COLLEGE OF MORAGA
The study of ethics, metaphysics, politics and religion added fuel to my desire for knowledge and self-discovery. I studied philosophers who inspired me to think critically, engage in meaningful conversations and develop thoughtful perspectives. During my psychology thesis on the topic of marriage and family therapy, I developed a timeless admiration for the foundation of marriage and family structure which continues to drive my career choice in marriage and family therapy today.
Bachelor's in Philosophy
Bachelor's in Psychology
WHY I BECAME A PSYCHOTHERAPIST
"For many years I longed to feel a sense of belonging in my own skin. It amazed me how the eyes of my body could see miles ahead, but the eyes of my mind and spirit could not see the wounds I carried inside.
I feel an inner reserve of energy radiating positivity, joy and purpose. I believe this came from my choice to take the journey from "head to heart." This was the best choice I ever made and the most important choice I continue to make every day. I became a mental health therapist so I could work with others who want to to take the same journey and uncover what healing could like in their life."
ABOUT THE TEAM EXPERTS
Brooke T. Barnidge
Lisa R. Rezner
Matt D. Tuszynski
"In watching helplessly as those kids were bullied, I could see their souls shatter into a million pieces. I was never treated like they were but I didn't need to to know how bad it was. That's when I knew in my heart that I was meant to be more than just a friend to these people and anyone who was severely disempowered."
"With unwavering conviction, I felt a profound calling to share with others what I experienced to be the divine gifts of a spiritual, therapeutic connection. Had I realized I was missing the combination, my wounds could have healed sooner. I want to spare others from being able to say the same thing."
"At this point, I have come to know the power of a good therapist. I thought if I could be one of those good therapists for someone else who was painstaingly lost like I was and utterly homeless inside, then I knew I needed to use my natural skills on purpose to help others going through what I did."
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WE BECAME THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE IN YOU
OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE
POST-TRAUAMTIC STRESS DISODER
SPIRITUALITY
Trauma-induced PTSD is one of the most urgent public health issues in the West. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that "one in five Americans was sexually molested as a child; one in four was beaten by a parent to the point of a mark being left on their body; and one in three couples engages in physical violence. A quarter of us grew up with alcoholic relatives, and one out of eight witnessed their mother being beaten or hit."
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-Bessel van der Kolk MD
"Those responsible for the spiritual care of others will run into issues that seem pathological, and those
responsible for the psychological care of others will run into issues that seem spiritual. The mind and spirit are entangled. The human person grapples with problems of religious-identity, meaning and purpose within situational circumstances and cultural, historical contexts. There will always be a psychological response to what is spiritually rooted, and a spiritual response to what is psychologically
caused. Insofar as all Truth is one- that the same God who designed spiritual health also designed mental health- psychological healing does not contradict spiritual progress but may complement it."
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DEPRESSION
"You don’t think in depression that you have put on a grey veil and are seeing the world through the haze of a bad mood. You think that the veil has been taken away, the veil of happiness, and that now you have seen truly."
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-Andrew Solomon
-Monica Huston
