I'm Dora, it's so great to meet you!
if there is anything you need to know before you give me a call - I can’t do my work any different than I am in real life - I will call it as I see it with lots of humor and compassion.
Office, located in Hermosa Beach, is serving clients from Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, Palos Verdes, greater Los Angeles area and virtually thorough out California.
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Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (License No. 146513) located in Hermosa Beach, California serving clients from the South Bay and LA area and virtually across California
launched private practice focusing on work with couples
I come from a very relational and attachment framework in my work. I can't help but be intrigued by the ways in which relationships impact peoples' lives! Before you ask, I do still work with plenty of individuals.
solidified interest in couples' work
Worked with couples, kids and their parents, and other individuals with all kinds of presenting issues.
worked in a non-profit mental health agency
Master’s of Science in Marital and Family Therapy
Mediating people who are about to get divorced wasn't my cup of tea; I realized that helping people make it work is more my jam. That's when I decided to become a therapist!
special training in Conflict Resolution and Mediation
extensive experience working with children with special needs and their parents
Bachelor's in communication with a minor in business
Spent a lot of time dancing and acting, developing my love for storytelling.
Fascination with stories and storytelling influenced my approach in therapy by paying special attention to stories people tell themselves, stories people hear about themselves, and stories people wish to write about themselves.
born & Raised in Croatia
A little more about me
education and experience
I take my coffee strong and black. That probably says everything you need to know. I prefer to skip small talk and head right into a deep midnight conversation. When I'm not helping others heal through relationships, set boundaries, or feel comfortable with who they are, you're most likely to find me buried in mythology or Russian literature (or rewatching Gilmore Girls for the hundredth time). Now, it's only fair for me to tell you what I'm less great at... in case you're curious, it's putting up with the mundane, traffic, time management, and not knowing the answers.
You wanna know more about me as a human...
let me guess
I'm a therapist who believes that healing happens in relationship whether that's the one you have with your partner, your past, the world, or with yourself. My style is collaborative, nonjudgmental, and direct. I won’t sugarcoat things, but I also won’t pathologize your pain.
When working with couples, I don’t take sides. Instead, I help each partner feel seen and heard, even and especially when things are messy or painful.
I show up with curiosity and compassion, and love taking my clients on a journey of self discovery: digging deep and looking at patterns, not as flaws to fix, but as meaningful adaptations rooted in their lived experience.
We’ll look at how your environment, upbringing, and past experiences have shaped you, and how you can begin to make more intentional, self-aligned choices moving forward. I believe therapy should be a space where you feel grounded and challenged in equal measure: where growth can happen, not because you’re being “fixed,” but because you’re finally being supported in a way that honors who you are.
Clients often tell me they feel seen and safe in our work, even when we’re exploring the hard stuff. I believe in the power of therapy to help people reconnect with who they are and what they need to thrive.
As a therapist, I see my role as a collaborative partner in your process not the expert who has it all figured out, but someone who’s here to walk alongside you as you make sense of your life. You’re the expert of your own experience. My job is to help you reconnect with your values, your voice, and your sense of agency. In our work together, I wear a few different hats. Sometimes I’m a co-author: helping you challenge the old narratives that keep you stuck and rewrite the ones that better reflect who you truly are. Sometimes I’m a guide: supporting you on a journey of self-discovery and self-actualization, helping you clarify what kind of life and relationships you want to build. And sometimes I’m a teacher: offering tools for emotional awareness, boundary setting, and communication, especially when your needs have historically gone unmet or unspoken.
...and as a therapist
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Training
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Certification Training
- Anxiety Certification course
- Complex Trauma Certification Training with Interventions from EMDR, Parts Work, CPT, and Polyvagal Theory
- Treating Complex Trauma with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Course
- Transforming Trauma with Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Course
- Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy for Trauma and Attachment Wounds course
- Peter Levine's Trauma Master Class: Somatic Experiencing
Individuals
- Imago Couples Therapy with Harville Hendrix certificate
- The Relational Life Therapy Approach to Couples Therapy with Terry Real master class
- Encounter-Centered Couples Therapy: “Teaching Couples the Art of Connection” training
- The Gottman Method to Treating Affairs and Trauma: An Advanced Training Course
- Healing from Affairs Training with Tammy Nelson: Moving Past the Trauma of Betrayal and Infidelity
- Integrative Sex and Couples Certification Training: Certified Sex Therapy Informed Professional (CSTIP) Course
Couples
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Training
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Certification Training
- Anxiety Certification course
- Complex Trauma Certification Training with Interventions from EMDR, Parts Work, CPT, and Polyvagal Theory
- Treating Complex Trauma with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Course
- Transforming Trauma with Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Course
- Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy for Trauma and Attachment Wounds course
- Peter Levine's Trauma Master Class: Somatic Experiencing
Individuals
- Imago Couples Therapy with Harville Hendrix certificate
- The Relational Life Therapy Approach to Couples Therapy with Terry Real master class
- Encounter-Centered Couples Therapy: “Teaching Couples the Art of Connection” training
- The Gottman Method to Treating Affairs and Trauma: An Advanced Training Course
- Healing from Affairs Training with Tammy Nelson: Moving Past the Trauma of Betrayal and Infidelity
- Integrative Sex and Couples Certification Training: Certified Sex Therapy Informed Professional (CSTIP) Course
- Integrative relationship therapy certification with Tammy Nelson
- Transformative approach to couples therapy with Esther Perel, master class
Couples
certifications and trainings
Here’s where we really shift things. After all the insight, the emotional repair, the slowing down, you get to ask: What story am I still telling about myself? And is it true?
We all carry dominant narratives- some that tell us we’re too much, not enough, too broken, or somehow to blame. In therapy, we start to gently challenge those stories. Not just by rejecting the hard parts, but by expanding the view. What else is true about you? What have you survived, carried, created, or endured that shows your strength?
We stop giving so much power to the storylines that say “you are the problem” and begin to recognize: you are a person, and you have problems. Just like all people do. You’re not defined by your struggles: you’re someone who has lived through difficult, sometimes painful experiences, and now gets to write something new.
As we rewrite your story together, you begin to reclaim agency. You begin to see what’s in your control, what patterns you’re ready to release, and what choices you can now make that reflect who you are becoming and not who you were forced to be.
third, We Rewrite the Narrative
Maybe it wasn’t safe to be angry. Or sad. Or even excited. When we’ve had to disconnect from parts of ourselves to preserve closeness with others, those unprocessed emotions don’t just disappear, they live in the body and can show up as anxiety, shutdown, burnout, overthinking, numbness, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or chronic overwhelm..
Therapy is a space to stop running from those feelings and start listening to them. This emotional integration is deep work: it’s not about “fixing” you, but rather reconnecting you with the full spectrum of your humanity. Feeling your feelings is how you begin to reclaim your wholeness.
So many of the patterns you’re stuck in today didn’t come from nowhere. They’re rooted in what you had to do to maintain closeness, safety, or independence in your earliest relationships. No one has a perfect childhood. Even in loving families, there are still unmet needs, misunderstandings, or emotional injuries whether intentional or not.
In therapy, we slow down and look at how those early dynamics shaped your sense of self. Maybe you learned to be the one who always holds it together. Or the one who doesn’t rock the boat. Or the one who constantly anticipates everyone else’s needs while ignoring your own. These roles helped you survive emotionally. But they aren’t permanent. When we begin to see how and why we adapted the way we did, we realize that we are not stuck. We are not broken. Who you are isn’t set in stone. You get to choose new ways of being in the world that feel more aligned and freeing.
Instead of being at the mercy of old stories, we begin to rewrite them with nuance and compassion.
first, we look back ( with curiosity not judgment) at how your early experiences shaped how you learned to be in the world
Therapy isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about making space to understand the parts of you that have been running the show quietly in the background and often for years. It's where we untangle the past so you can finally stop reacting on autopilot and start choosing something different.
Change happens when we’re brave enough to look inward with support. When we pause long enough to feel what’s there, get honest about what’s not working anymore, and learn how to try something new without abandoning ourselves in the process.
We’re often working across three powerful dimensions of growth- all of which help you come home to yourself in a more whole, empowered way.
Let's talk about what happens in therapy ...
Enough about me
Second, We Make Space for the Feelings You Had to Push Away
Insight alone doesn’t change our lives- experience does. As we understand ourselves more deeply and make space for the emotions we’ve buried, we also begin to try out new behaviors. Maybe that means setting a boundary, asking for support, or simply letting yourself rest without guilt. These moments, big or small, help reinforce the truth that you’re no longer living in the dynamics of your past. Therapy becomes a space to experiment, to get curious, and to remember that change is not only possible, but deeply human and to notice: You’re not living in your old story anymore.
