Samantha Acriche (She/Her) 

Samantha works with children, adolescents, adults, and families, offering individual therapy, group therapy, and parent coaching. She tailors her work to each client’s individual needs, strengths, and experiences and believes that clients are the experts in their own lives. Samantha views therapy as a collaborative process with the goal of deepening self-understanding, developing new skills, and creating meaningful change.

She has worked across outpatient behavioral health settings, including at The Behavioral Health Institute at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, where she provided specialty mental health services to children and families, and South Bay Mental Health Center, a Department of Mental Health outpatient clinic, where she supported adults with severe and complex psychiatric conditions. In addition to BPS, Samantha currently works at and receives psychodynamic training through the Karen Horney Clinic. She has also volunteered with Crisis Text Line, supporting individuals experiencing acute emotional distress.

Samantha works with clients experiencing anxiety, OCD, selective mutism, trauma, depression, ADHD, autism, and other emotional, behavioral, and social challenges. Her approach is eclectic and individualized, drawing from cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and somatic approaches. She is trained in The Incredible Years, a parent- and child-focused program; TF-CBT, a trauma-focused approach for children and caregivers; and Coping Cat, an exposure-based program for children with anxiety. She has also received extensive training at the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies in CBT, ACT, and DBT. Samantha is a registered yoga teacher and integrates mindfulness and an awareness of the mind-body connection into her work.

Prior to becoming a psychotherapist, Samantha spent many years working in K–12 education as an economics and English teacher and as a manager of school curriculum in New York and internationally. These experiences shaped her understanding of human development and the ways in which family, school, and other environments influence an individual’s wellbeing. She is a graduate of Cornell University, where she received her B.S. in Applied Economics.

Outside of her work, Samantha enjoys practicing yoga, making ceramics, hiking, and dancing.