Center for Growth and Connection

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Pasadena, CA
Center for Growth and Connection

Pasadena therapy practice helping adults & couples build healthier relationships. At our practice, therapy is more than learning coping skills.

Infidelity & Betrayal • Anxiety & Burnout • Trauma Therapy • Narcissistic Abuse Recovery • Breakups & Divorce Looking for a therapist in Pasadena who offers compassionate, evidence based care? Our team helps adults and couples navigate anxiety, relationship challenges, trauma, life transitions, and the stress of everyday life with therapy tailored to their unique needs. We offer individual therapy, couples therapy, marriage counseling, EMDR therapy, and counseling in Pasadena. Whether you're searching for an anxiety therapist, relationship therapist, couples therapist, or mental health therapist in Pasadena, our goal is to help you find the right therapist for your unique situation. We believe meaningful change happens through a strong therapeutic relationship, thoughtful collaboration, and treatment that honors your experiences while helping you move toward the life and relationships you want. Our therapists draw from evidence based approaches, including EMDR and Emotionally Focused Therapy, while creating a space where clients feel respected, understood, and supported throughout the process. Follow our page for practical mental health education, relationship insights, and resources that help you better understand yourself and the people you care about. When you're ready to begin, contact us to schedule a consultation and find the therapist who is the best fit for you.

10/01/2026

When we really like someone, it can be easy to focus on their potential. You notice all the things you love about them; you think about who they could become. You imagine what the relationship could look like if they communicated a little better, became more available, wanted the same things, or changed a few things that don’t quite work for you.

Sometimes, without realizing it, you can start relating to the version of the person you hope they will become.

It can be helpful to pause and ask yourself:

Do I like this person as they are right now?

Do our values and needs actually fit?

Am I accepting the things that don’t work for me, or am I constantly explaining them away?

How much of this relationship feels good as it exists today?

There’s nothing wrong with seeing someone’s potential, but a relationship is built with the person who is actually standing in front of you. You deserve the space to be curious about whether the relationship works for you as it is, rather than spending all your energy trying to make it work.

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Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

09/26/2026

Being alone and feeling lonely can look very similar from the outside, but they can feel very different on the inside.

After a breakup, you may suddenly have much more time alone than you’re used to. The quiet can feel strange.

You may miss having someone to talk to at the end of the day. You may miss having plans automatically built into your weekend. You may miss physical affection or simply knowing that someone is there.

Sometimes what you’re experiencing is loneliness. Loneliness can be a signal that you’re longing for connection. That connection might come from a friend, a family member, your community, a romantic relationship, or your relationship with yourself.

So if you’re feeling lonely, you might try getting more specific about what you’re actually missing.

Do you want someone to listen?
Do you want company?
Do you want affection?
Do you want to feel understood?
Do you want something to look forward to?

That little bit of curiosity can help you move from “I hate being alone” toward a better understanding of what you need.

There may also be a process of learning to feel more comfortable in your own company. You don’t have to love being alone. You can simply start getting to know yourself in the quieter moments.

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Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

09/23/2026

After a breakup, you might find yourself missing the relationship and wondering if that means you should still be with that person. But sometimes, what we miss is more complicated than missing the person themselves.

You might miss having someone to text throughout the day.
You might miss having plans for the weekend.
You might miss being someone’s person.
You might miss physical affection, companionship, familiarity, or simply knowing that someone was there.

And all of those things can be deeply meaningful. It can be helpful, though, to get curious about what you’re actually longing for.

Do you miss this particular person?
Do you miss the relationship you had with them?
Do you miss the future you imagined together?
Or do you miss having someone beside you?

There may not be one simple answer. You can miss someone and still know that the relationship wasn’t working for you. You can miss being in a relationship and still need more time before you’re ready to build another one.

Sometimes giving yourself space to sort through what you’re actually grieving can help you understand what you want next.

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Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

09/19/2026

A breakup can leave you with a lot of questions about what comes next, but there may also be some things worth looking back toward.

Your friendships.
Your hobbies.
Your routines.
Your independence.
Your preferences.
Your voice.
Your relationship with yourself.

When we’re deeply invested in a relationship, some parts of our lives naturally become quieter. We adapt. We compromise. We make room for another person.

And sometimes, when the relationship ends, we realize there are parts of ourselves we haven’t heard from in a while.

Maybe you start listening again.

You remember how much you love going out with friends.

You discover that you actually enjoy having a Saturday morning to yourself.

You make a decision based on what you want, without wondering whether someone else will approve.

You try something new.

You remember something old.

There can be grief in starting over, and…

There can also be discovery.

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Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

09/16/2026

After a breakup, ask yourself:

What parts of your life got smaller while you were in your relationship?

Maybe you stopped seeing certain friends as often.

Maybe hobbies that used to bring you joy slowly disappeared from your routine.

Maybe you became less connected to your own opinions, preferences, or needs.

Maybe making your partner happy became so important that you stopped checking in with yourself.

This doesn’t necessarily mean your relationship was unhealthy. Relationships require compromise, and there are seasons of life when our priorities naturally shift. But it can be helpful to look back with curiosity.

What did you make less room for?
What did you miss?
What parts of yourself would you like to reconnect with now?

Sometimes rebuilding your life after a breakup involves more than processing the relationship that ended. It can also involve remembering who you are outside of it.

Start small. Call the friend you’ve been missing. Pick up the hobby you used to love. Make a plan because you want to. Notice what you actually enjoy.

There may be more of you waiting for your attention than you realized.

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Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

08/27/2026

If you’ve been thinking about reconnecting with a friend or family member after a breakup, but feel guilty about reaching out, I want to offer you a little permission.

You may be thinking:
“I haven’t talked to them in forever.”

“They probably think I only want them around because I’m single now.”

“I should have made more of an effort while I was in the relationship.”

“I feel awkward reaching out after so much time has passed.”

Those feelings make sense. And you can still reach out. You don’t have to pretend nothing happened. You can acknowledge the distance.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking about you lately. I know it’s been a long time, and I realize I haven’t done a great job of staying in touch. I’d really love to reconnect if you’re open to it.”

Or keep it even simpler:

“I know it’s been a while. I’ve missed you and would love to catch up. No pressure at all, but if you’re open to it, I’d love to see you.”

You don’t need to have a perfectly worded explanation for why you’ve been distant. You also don’t need to make the other person responsible for making you feel better about it.

Reach out. Acknowledge what you can. Be genuine. And then give them the freedom to decide whether they want to reconnect too. And if they don’t respond, or aren’t ready, that can hurt, but it doesn’t mean reaching out was a mistake.

It may also be worth getting curious about the guilt you’re carrying. Were you isolated from people you cared about during the relationship? Did you gradually lose touch because your relationship became the center of your world? Did you make choices that hurt or disappointed people you care about?

There may be some repair to do. Sometimes that means apologizing and taking responsibility. Sometimes it means accepting that a relationship has changed. Either way, you can begin tending to the relationships that matter to you now.

A breakup can be an opportunity to look around and ask, “Who do I want in my life, and how do I want to show up for them?”

—

Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485
💌Email: [email protected]

—

08/26/2026

After a breakup, it can be easy to focus so much on the relationship you lost that you forget about the other relationships in your life:

Friends.
Family.
Community.
Your relationship with yourself.

Sometimes those relationships have gotten quieter over the course of a relationship. Maybe you stopped making plans, or maybe your partner became the person you turned to for everything. Maybe you simply had less time and energy for other people. Now, reaching back out can feel awkward.

You might wonder if it’s too late, whether they’re upset with you, or whether they’ll think you’re only reaching out because you’re single again. You may have some repair to do. And that’s okay … you can acknowledge the distance without letting shame keep you from trying.

A simple, “I know I’ve been out of touch, and I’ve been thinking about you. I’d really love to reconnect if you’re open to it,” can be enough to open the door. The other person gets to decide whether they’re ready to walk through it. If they are, let yourself receive that connection.

Your life after a breakup doesn’t have to be built around finding another romantic relationship. There are other people who can know you, support you, laugh with you, challenge you, and remind you who you are. This might be a good time to tend to those relationships, too.

—

Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485
💌Email: [email protected]

—

08/19/2026

What if starting over is where you begin again?

After a breakup, it can be so easy to spend your energy looking backward.

What went wrong? What could I have done differently? Why didn’t it work? Could I have saved it?

There may be value in reflecting on those questions. But at some point, there are other questions worth asking.

What do I want now?
What have I learned about myself?
What kind of relationship do I want to build?
What parts of myself do I want to reconnect with?

A breakup can change the picture you had of your future. That can be painful, especially when you had imagined that future so clearly. But you don’t have to rush to replace it.

There can be a period of simply getting to know yourself again, making choices based on what matters to you, and allowing yourself to imagine possibilities that weren’t part of the original plan.

Sometimes a new beginning starts quietly, with one small choice, one new experience. One moment of realizing, “Maybe I don’t have to build my life around the life I thought I was going to have.”

There is still a lot of life ahead of you.

—

Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

08/18/2026

There is a version of your life waiting for you beyond the relationship you thought would last forever.

I know that can be hard to believe when you’re in the middle of heartbreak. When you had imagined a future with someone, losing the relationship can also mean grieving the future you thought you were going to have.

There may be a period of not knowing who you are without the relationship, what comes next, or even what you want anymore.

Give yourself time to grieve what was. And, when you’re ready, get curious about what might be possible now.

Sometimes starting over creates space to reconnect with parts of yourself that got quiet along the way. You may discover new interests, new relationships, new boundaries, or simply a deeper understanding of who you are.

You don’t have to know what the next chapter looks like yet.
You can begin by taking one small step toward yourself.

—

Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

08/15/2026

One of the greatest gifts of therapy is discovering that many of the things you’ve criticized yourself for actually make sense in context.

Your perfectionism.
Your people pleasing.
Your constant need to stay busy.
Your difficulty trusting others.

None of these developed in isolation. They began as intelligent adaptations to experiences that required you to protect yourself.

The question isn’t “Who am I?”

It’s “Who did I have to become, and who do I have permission to be now?”

—

Looking for support in Los Angeles or California? Feel free to reach out!

📞Phone: (626) 702 - 3485

💌Email: [email protected]

—

Address

301 E. Colorado Boulevard , Suite 860
Pasadena, CA
91101

Website

https://www.centerforgrowthandconnection.com/, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhcfoPormF-Rpv3T8XSba0XQrCkc-57

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