"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” - Carl Rogers

About: 

Lyra is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist who believes that the most meaningful change happens not through technique alone, but through the healing presence of relationship. Lyra views therapy as a collaborative process in which the client is the expert of their own experience. Her role is to walk alongside them with warmth and curiosity - helping clients better understand their patterns, reconnect with themselves, and move toward a way of living that feels more grounded and aligned.

Therapeutic Approach: 

Lyra’s work is humanistic, trauma-informed, and integrative, drawing from cognitive, acceptance-based, and parts-work, alongside attachment-based frameworks. She weaves together top-down cognitive approaches and bottom-up somatic awareness to help clients bridge insight with the body's own intelligence. Threads of Buddhist psychology and mindfulness practice run through her approach, with particular attention to self-compassion, authenticity, and the art of meeting oneself with less resistance and more care. Alongside deeper self-exploration, she also offers practical tools that clients can apply beyond the therapy room.

Education and Professional Experience: 

Lyra has worked with diverse individuals across school-based, community mental health, crisis, and telehealth settings. She has extensive experience supporting clients navigating anxiety, depression, relationship dynamics, complex trauma, complex identities, self-esteem challenges, and major life or career transitions.

She tends to connect especially well with thoughtful, sensitive individuals who may feel disconnected from themselves, caught in patterns of overthinking and perfectionism, or uncertainty about where they belong. She brings adaptability and genuine curiosity to each person she works with, shaping her approach to fit the unique needs, rhythms, and goals of who is in front of her.

Lyra received her Master of Science in Counseling (Marriage and Family Therapy concentration) from California State University, East Bay, a program deeply rooted in social justice, multicultural competency, and community-centered care.

Outside of Therapy: 

When she's not in session, Lyra can be found creating jewelry, painting, collaging, camping, hiking with nature’s creatures and critters, and discovering new music. She loves watching TV shows and movies, trying new food spots with her loved ones, and exploring local craft fairs and farmers' markets.

Lyra Okita, AMFT in CA #158078 is employed as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at Leavitt Marriage and Family Therapy

Supervisor: Nadezda Leavitt, LMFT in CA #141910