california
real talk
real therapy
real change
for the woman between worlds
real life
real therapy
real talk
therapy
for
women
what shaped you still shapes you
you grew up with a heritage culture on one side and mainstream U.S. culture on the other.
you've spent your life managing the distance between them.
too much for one world. not enough for the other.
you've sat at the table in both worlds and felt like a guest in each one.
you didn't choose all of who you became.
some of it was shaped by what was required of you.
some by what was taken from those who came before you.
somewhere along the way, the language was lost. or the traditions faded. stories untold.
or maybe the culture was always there - loud, present, full - and what got lost was you, somewhere inside of it.
“when cultural identity goes unexamined, it doesn't just feel uncomfortable. it shows up in your body, your relationships, your sense of what you're allowed to want”
the piece
that’s missing
anxiety. people-pleasing. never feeling like enough.
you've examined all of it - just never through this lens...
online
therapy
for women between worlds
I'm Cecilia Spero, licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist. My own experience navigating the space between cultures inspired my career - and over a decade of clinical work with women has deepened it.
I specialize in working with women on cultural identity - those who feel disconnected from a heritage culture they love but can't fully claim, and those who feel overwhelmed by its expectations and are trying to find themselves within it. For many, that friction shows up as anxiety, self-doubt, people-pleasing, or the sense that you're never quite enough.
Generation isn't what determines whether this work is for you. It's not about how far back the immigration was. It's about whether the pull between two cultures is live in you right now - and for many women, it still is, five generations later.
This isn’t therapy about your heritage for its own sake. It’s about looking at what’s actually brought you in - the anxiety, the self-doubt, the sense that you’re never enough - and making sense of it through where you come from, including how race and culture have shaped your sense of self. That’s often the piece nobody’s asked about before.
conversations that create change
anxiety. depression. people-pleasing. perfectionism.
the exhaustion of never feeling like enough.
real talk starts with naming what’s actually going on - and for so many women, it traces back to culture: who you were taught to be, and what it’s cost you to become her.
real work. real topics
rediscovering or reclaiming your cultural heritage
understanding why the language or traditions were lost - and what to do with that
releasing the shame of not feeling “enough” within your culture
making sense of which parts of your culture feel like home, and which parts you’re still working through
finding your own identity outside of your family’s or culture’s expectations
understanding how cultural messaging shaped your anxiety, your relationships, your sense of worth
therapy for women in California navigating cultural identity and the space between worlds.
choose you
“the in-between isn’t a problem to be solved.
it’s a place that shapes you in ways that are both challenging and extraordinary”
free 15-minute phone consultation
You’ll be directed to my secure client portal.
Select “I’m a new client” to book.
or call 310-626-1663
I do not provide crisis services.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, call 911.
cecilia spero lcsw