Anxiety and depression therapists and psychiatrists in Phoenix, AZ

I’m Kristen Vallely, a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in Arizona and in Colorado I earned my Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy from Arizona State University and also hold certifications in Sex informed therapy, EMDR, DBT, CBT, and trauma-informed care. I utilize Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method, Solutions Focused and foundational family systems models.

In addition to traditional therapy models, I bring in a holistic and somatic lens—blending evidence-based techniques with intuitive awareness, especially for clients exploring trauma, relational healing, parenting, and alternative relationships such as polyamory.

I’m an immigrant, a wife, a mother to a neurodivergent child, and neurodivergent myself. My lived experiences, including divorce, high-conflict co-parenting, navigating special education, interracial relationships, and cross-cultural communication, shape how I understand and support clients through complex, real-life challenges.

Brianna Marshall, LCSW, MBA

Owner & Therapist

Education: University of Southern California

Values: Empathy, Purpose, Care

We all have a Purpose and a story to tell.... I hold strongly that every person has a purpose and a story to tell. Even through lives experiences you still have purpose. There is a reason why you’re here today.

Your experiences in life are unique to you and can be tell some devastating things such as grief and loss, trauma, conflicts etc which has developed into depression, anxiety, low-esteem, amongst other things.

Your story, thus far, is what brought you to Therapy with Purpose. It’s within your story, you can discover your purpose and achieve self fulfillment.

So what’s your story?

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor who works with adults and adolescents navigating life’s challenges, including anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship concerns. I earned my Master’s degree in Professional Counseling from Grand Canyon University and have additional training in EMDR. I offer services in both English and Spanish, creating a space where clients can express themselves comfortably and authentically. My goal is to provide a supportive, nonjudgmental environment where you feel heard and understood.

Sanjay Kestner MC, LPC, CHST is a licensed professional counselor who specializes in sex therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Sanjay received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Gonzaga University, and his master's degree in counseling from Arizona State University. He is a Certified Holistic Sex Therapist who specializes in men's issues. Sanjay is a sex positive and LGBTQ friendly counselor.

As a licensed clinical psychologist, I believe in approaching clients where they are at when they come to see me. Seeking out any mental health assistance can be an overwhelming and frustrating challenge that many struggle to face. My focus is to reduce those feelings by providing a calm and secure environment. In the 5 1/2 years I have been practicing, I have never stopped learning from my clients.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Arizona and hold a master’s degree in clinical Mental Health Counseling. My professional journey as a counselor has allowed me to sit with various individuals. My unique experiences have inspired me to create a therapy space that welcomes creativity, cultivates collaboration, and pursues authenticity.

People come to therapy carrying all kinds of things. A teenager navigating identity and anxiety. An adult whose depression has become the background noise of daily life. An older adult sitting with grief, transition, and questions about meaning and purpose. I work across all of it — with teens, adults, and older adults — and I bring the same grounded, genuine investment to every person who walks through the door.

What I offer isn't just clinical range, though I have that. It's the perspective that comes from over a decade working across outpatient, intensive outpatient, and inpatient settings, serving as a clinical director, supervising clinicians toward licensure, and training the next generation of therapists at universities across Arizona. That kind of career doesn't just build skill. It builds a clinician who has seen enough to know that the most important thing in the room is never the framework — it's the relationship.

I'm an Arizona native, down-to-earth, and genuinely easy to be around. I value humor and believe lightheartedness has a real place in the therapy room — not as a way of avoiding the hard stuff, but as a reminder that healing doesn't have to feel relentlessly heavy. I work with people navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, co-occurring conditions, and complex life transitions, and I meet all of it with warmth, steadiness, and real clinical depth.

What I'm ultimately working toward with every client is simple: a better relationship with yourself and the people around you. More clarity. More purpose. A life that feels more like yours. Whether you're just beginning to understand what you're carrying or you've been at this work for years, I'll help you build something from there.

Even when we try to move forward, the effects of trauma can continue to influence how we feel and respond. Many of the people I work with have already tried to move ahead. They've talked about what happened, understood it intellectually, & still found themselves back in the same patterns, the same responses, the same exhaustion. If that sounds familiar, you're not failing at healing. You may only need a different kind of help. A significant part of what I do involves helping clients understand their own nervous system — why it responds the way it does, what it's been protecting, and how to work with it rather than against it. This isn't abstract. It's practical, specific, and often the missing piece for people who have done a lot of work but still feel stuck at a level they can't quite reach through insight alone.

I specialize in first responders and healthcare professionals who carry the particular weight of chronic crisis exposure — people who understand resilience professionally but are navigating what it costs them. I take the responsibility of trauma work seriously — more seriously, perhaps, than most. I stay current with research, I think carefully about the ethics of this work, and I pay close attention to where each client is in their healing journey before taking the next step.

That deliberateness isn't caution for its own sake. It's respect — for the complexity of trauma, for the courage it takes to address it, and for the person sitting across from me.

My presence in sessions is quiet and attentive. I notice things. I offer feedback and suggestions carefully .My approach adapts as you grow — attending to your history, your relationships, and the patterns that have formed around your experiences. We'll build emotional awareness, develop practical tools, and work toward something genuinely sustainable.

Healing can begin with considering how past experiences have shaped your view of self, emotional patterns, and relationships with others. Grief, trauma, anxiety, depression, and the weight of patterns carried across a lifetime have a way of becoming invisible — so woven into daily life that they no longer feel like patterns at all. Just how things are now. You may have tried to push through, stay busy, or simply manage — and found yourself back in the same place, wondering why nothing seems to stick.

What most people don't realize is that the experiences keeping them stuck aren't just stored in memory — they live in the body. In the tension you hold without knowing it. In the way your breath shifts in certain rooms, around certain people, in certain moments that shouldn't feel as heavy as they do. This is where the real work happens — not just in understanding what you've been through, but in helping your nervous system finally catch up to what your mind already knows.

I bring a particular kind of presence to this work — calm, grounded, and genuinely unshakeable. Not because the hard stuff doesn't land, but because it doesn't destabilize me. For clients carrying trauma, that steadiness matters more than almost anything else. You need someone who can hold the full weight of what you bring in without flinching — and keep showing up the same way, session after session.

What we build together goes beyond the therapy room. Complex relationship patterns, grief, and the slow erosion of self-confidence are connected — shaped by the same experiences, reinforcing the same conclusions about who you are and what you deserve. We'll trace those connections, understand what your nervous system has been protecting, and build something more sustainable than simply getting through the day.