Macarena Santelices, MD, LCPC, LPCC

Macarena Santelices is a licensed mental health professional based in California with 14 years of clinical experience. She holds an MD (Doctor of Medicine) and maintains counseling licenses listed as LCPC and LPCC - these are state professional counseling credentials that reflect her training and licensure across jurisdictions.

Her practice focuses on stress and anxiety, relationship and family concerns, self-esteem and confidence, depression, parenting challenges, and coping with life transitions. She also works with issues such as abandonment and attachment difficulties, body image, caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, communication problems, forgiveness, guilt and shame, impulsivity, isolation and loneliness, questions of life purpose and midlife change, financial stress, mood disorders, and cultivating self-love.

Macarena approaches therapy with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based methods, aiming to support clients in developing practical skills and greater self-awareness. She views each person as the expert of their own story and seeks to meet clients where they are, collaboratively identifying goals and building on individual strengths.

She does not provide trauma therapy; individuals seeking trauma-focused work should look for a therapist who specializes in that area. Macarena encourages and acknowledges the courage it takes to begin therapy and offers supportive guidance for those ready to make changes.