Larisa Blum, MFT

I started seeing Larisa about six months ago for severe depression associated with unresolved trauma and medical challenges (hypothyroidism and female hormonal fluctuations).

I have had DECADES of talk therapy and Larisa is hands down the most compassionate and skilled therapist I have ever been blessed to have in my life.

With expertise in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) that emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and somatic therapy that emphasizes the body-mind connection, she brings a skillset that far exceeded my expectations... and I am not easy to impress.

To be concrete, when I talk about skillset, I am talking about Larisa's ability to create an environment of trust. When I am sitting with her, I feel she is interested, invested, compassionate, nonjudgmental, and collaborating with my highest self. I don't have to guess that she's got my back. She's got it. I FEEL it in her voice, in the content of what she says, her eye contact, and body language.

Another skill she has is the capacity to mirror my strengths while helping me transform the habitual relational tendencies formed in past traumas. This is no easy task because our relational habits don't just show up in our daily lives. They show up in the therapeutic relationship as well. Larisa navigates this so well that I have naturally come into a new way of relating to myself and others that is more open and natural, without the baggage that has been with me for much of my life.

I could go on, but will add just one more skill. Larisa is open-minded and very supportive of my spiritual path and practices. My experiences and beliefs are often 'out of the box' when compared to psychotherapy and Larisa has invited the wisdom of this meaningful path to inform our process together in a seamless way. She has embraced all of me and this has meant so much. This means I do not have to leave something at the door to be able to be in therapy. I can just sit down, relax, and connect.

When it comes down to it, though, it's not just the expertise that makes Larisa amazing. I am a therapist myself and it was important to me how she came forward without all the psychobabble and just met me in the room in a skillful, but natural way. We both know a lot about our field and we work as a team to discover what is most naturally needed in each session.

It is a mark of a skilled therapist to be able to use the therapeutic relationship in a way that is refreshingly human to attend to what needs healing and uplift the strengths of the client. I am so grateful to have found Larisa.

If you are considering therapy for yourself or a loved one, I highly recommend Larisa.

Ok...I've never took the time to write a review for Larisa because I've been through a lot. Literally my life has crumbled, I've been heavily suicidal and i'm still picking up the pieces. In all of this Larisa has been the beacon of intelligence, maturity and courage that saved my life.
If you are searching for counseling you probably feel alone as hell, unheard, not because you are not surrounded by people but because nobody will understand.
Larisa has the strength of character to understand.

I started seeing Larisa about a year ago. She worked with me and my partner to resolve our communication struggles and help to guide us towards each other in conflict rather than blame and avoid/attack.
Larisa was so skilled at helping us navigate our relationship that we both began seeing her individually in addition to doing couples sessions! I think that says a considerable amount about someone's skill set.
I have been in therapy off and on for 15 years and I have never experienced someone who so consistently gets it right. No matter how convoluted the narrative or messy the background- she can track and provide very precisely the emotions at play. She often is aware that I am feeling something before I have even acknowledged it myself. Having someone tuned in so strongly and empathically makes the labor of soul searching so much easier!
Quite frankly, I have never worked with someone as talented as Larisa and I really believe in her approach and wisdom. If you're looking for intelligent and grounded guidance, call her!

I started seeing Larisa shortly after my dad died, a couple years ago now. (wow!) Larisa was my grief companion, my sounding board, my "space-holder," and a lovingly skilled practitioner of the therapeutic arts. As a long-standing client, I can recommend Larisa with heart and mind.

Larisa brings both her humanity and skill to the therapeutic relationship. To me this is the striking and beautiful aspect to our professional relationship. I respect Larisa's commitment to her practice and I have been lucky to experience with her deep levels of humanity, intimacy, and human engagement.

I am deeply thankful that Larisa is the person who she is and that I have had her support in my life.

Larisa has been my counselor, on and off, for 2+ years. So I am very familiar with her and she is warm, kind, understanding, and non-judgemental yet honest. She will also provide much needed perspective when you're "in your feelings". I would recommend her to anyone, especially those in need of an emotionally supportive, honest, professional, and protective counselor.
As for the FEW negative comments I've read here... I urge everyone who reads them to remember that sometimes ones opinion of another is more influenced by their own personal experiences, ideas, and conditioning than it is by reality. This is especially true when one is feeling emotional and/or has strong feelings about seeing a counselor to begin with.

Peace & Blessings to All!

Wow. Just wow. She eventually left me a voicemail and then goes on to write me here after leaving me a voicemail that basically admitted she did not return the call in a timely manner. So unprofessional. You dropped the ball, and you know it, Ms. Blum.

Horrible, inexperienced, unprofessional. She has no idea how to navigate a difficult marriage situation and prefers to apply her bias as a divorcée rather that her professionalism to try to explore and to heal. After expressing my apprehensions about her ability to give fair and balanced therapy, she realized my worst fears by bringing her bias to our last session and totally sided with one party. She chided me in our first couples session as if she were my mother - wow. When afterwards I told her that this made me feel uncomfortable and wrong, she pushed back and completely invalidated my feelings. She also has professional boundary issues - not only did she tell me that she wanted to hug me, but she actually did in our individual session - red flags!! I'm sure Larisa is a nice person, but if you're looking for a couples counselor, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a reason to separate or to divorce someone, she's your woman.

I have been working with Larisa for over a year now and am so grateful to have found her. She is kind, compassionate, insightful and empathetic. She radiates a warmth and calm that leaves me feeling more centered and at peace, simply by being in her presence. She has helped me learn and grow more in the past year than I have at any other time in my life. Larisa is truly special and I can't recommend her highly enough!

I have been referring couples to Larisa for years. Feedback from them is consistently positive, mentioning her professionalism, skill, and uplifting spirit of hope. Because of that she is my main referral source. She has the incredible warmth, caring, and genuine empathy as well as the capacity for firm, clear boundaries to help couples out of their entrenched, painful, unconscious dynamics. Her unwavering commitment to truth makes her an incredible therapist for long-term partners stuck in deep, complex tangles as well as newbie couples struggling with communication, intimacy, cultural, or developmental issues.

For five years I was in a women's therapy group in which Larisa was the longest standing member. She served informally as the peer-facilitator and definitely was the barometer of integrity for the group. She has an almost magical ability to pick up on, almost by osmosis, what is going on beneath the surface with someone. She is able to imaginatively reach this understanding by staying in close touch with her body, listening for what comes up and presenting it in a non-threatening, empowering, but uncompromising way that creates a safe space for hard conversations to flower. Over and over again I saw her pull insights out of her hat that helped many of us come at problems from new angles that helped us "unstick". She was definitely the most respected member of our group by the the many participants over the years, and taught many of us - by example and with support - how to stay with our truths and how to represent our needs.

She was absolutely born to be a therapist. Don't be fooled by her youthfulness. As a mid-life career changer, she is staring practice with lots of life experience and cosmic explorations under her belt and a seasoned point of view. Her warmth is balanced by a rigorous mind, thanks to her former training as an attorney, and a centeredness. She's kind of the ultimate mind-body practitioner. Also, funny - her Russian heritage gives her a sardonic edge and humor that I like a lot.

I have never had her an an individual therapist but I can recommend her wholeheartedly. There is something right happening in the universe that she is finally starting practice. Her clients will be getting one hell of a deal.