Damien Gonsalves
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
About Damien Gonsalves, LMFT
Damien is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in Los Angeles, CA, providing trauma-informed therapy for adults navigating the aftershocks of overwhelming life experiences—whether those experiences happened in one defining moment or unfolded over years in relationships that were supposed to feel safe. His work is grounded in neurobiologically-based, trauma-sensitive care that honors the ways the nervous system adapts to survive—and supports clients in building stability, agency, and meaningful change from the inside out.
He offers specialized support for individuals navigating the impact of trauma, identity development, relational injury, and recovery from high-stress or high-control environments. Damien also provides affirming care for LGBTQIA+ clients and communities as one facet of his broader commitment to inclusive, culturally responsive therapy. Damien brings a purposeful, collaborative approach and is known for building compassionate rapport while staying solutions-oriented, helping clients make meaningful progress without minimizing the complexity of what they’ve lived through.
With extensive experience supporting individuals navigating substance use and co-occurring mental health concerns (often referred to as “dual diagnosis”), Damien offers specialized care for clients working to rebuild stability and long-term recovery. He has advanced training in supporting individuals living with bipolar disorder and other thought disorders, and he helps clients transitioning out of higher levels of care restore daily structure, identity, and momentum—without returning to substances or other compulsive coping strategies.
Damien also specializes in working with relational trauma and developmental trauma, including the long-term effects of childhood adversity, emotionally unsafe caregiving, chronic invalidation, and relational instability. He integrates attachment-informed care to support clients whose nervous systems learned early that closeness might come with risk—helping them rebuild felt safety, strengthen boundaries, and develop more secure patterns of connection over time.
This includes support for clients healing from:
Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse
Relational trauma and coercive dynamics
Attachment injuries, chronic shame, and fear of vulnerability
Dissociation, hypervigilance, and nervous-system overwhelm
Difficulty trusting, people-pleasing, or “shutting down” in relationships
Damien’s clinical work is grounded in the understanding that trauma doesn’t only live in memory—it shapes the nervous system, threat detection, emotional regulation, and the body’s capacity to feel safe. He supports clients in learning to regulate internal states and reduce trauma reactivity using an integrative blend of modalities, including:
Trauma Resolution Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) — a neuroscience-informed somatic approach
The NeuroTriad Model and Brain Partnership
Havening Techniques ®
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness
Damien works collaboratively to help clients move from coping to healing—developing a regulated nervous system, stronger internal boundaries, healthier relationships, and a more empowered sense of self.
Damien offers in-person therapy at our Pasadena, California, offices, with telehealth options available throughout California.
Havening Techniques® is a registered trademark of Dr. Ronald Ruden.