About Marva
Dr. Marva Bourne is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California. She brings nine years of clinical experience to sessions and focuses on clear, practical steps parents and adults can use to feel steadier.
She speaks English and frames work around everyday challenges like stress, sleep problems, and relationship strain. Her background includes graduate training in marriage and family therapy and education counseling. That training supports work with adoption and foster care issues, attachment concerns, and the effects of early childhood trauma on adult life.
Background and approach
Marva pays attention to how past events shape current behavior and relationships. In sessions she uses approaches such as Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, and the Gottman Method. She mixes these methods to match a person’s needs, focusing on skills people can practice between meetings.
Typical topics include anxiety, depression, grief, addictions, ADHD, and problems with intimacy. Her style is warm and goal-oriented. She helps people name what’s most urgent, try small changes, and notice what shifts over time.
She also supports parents with parenting strain and caregiver stress, and addresses blended family and multicultural concerns. People who choose her often want a clear plan and a supportive listener. She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so people can fit therapy into busy lives.
How therapy approaches translate to online care
Attachment-based work looks at how early bonds shape how people relate now, with a focus on building safer emotional responses and steadier connections. It can help with attachment issues, adoption-related concerns, and relationship patterns. Client-centered therapy emphasizes an accepting, nonjudgmental stance where the therapist listens closely and follows the person's priorities; this approach supports people who need time to find their own solutions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks down thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to find practical skills to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, manage ADHD-related challenges, and change unhelpful patterns.Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist will ask about goals, try methods, and adjust based on what helps. Clients and the clinician decide together which strategies feel most useful and which to keep refining over time.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video lets people use visual cues during deep conversations. Phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is limited or a quicker check-in is needed. Live chat and messaging support shorter updates, skill practice, or when writing helps clarify thoughts. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy days and different routines.
Questions people ask
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What is her general approach in sessions?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What are her credentials and where is she located?
Which languages are supported for sessions?
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How are costs handled for therapy?
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 9 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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