About
- CBT skills
- DBT strategies
- Mindfulness work
About Anke
Anke Kalaiah is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with 15 years of clinical experience. She sees adults who are juggling heavy responsibilities at home and work, and who are coping with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and family concerns, trauma, parenting strain, and related issues.
She approaches therapy from a client-centered perspective. That means she uses the client’s priorities to guide sessions and helps people decide what to work on. She combines practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and skills from dialectical behavior therapy with mindfulness and solution-focused techniques.
Anke draws on experience across many settings and cultures. She holds a masters degree in counseling psychology from Santa Clara University and a bachelor’s degree in German and social psychology from Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. As an immigrant herself, she is familiar with immigration, expat and multicultural family concerns.
In sessions she helps people identify patterns that increase stress or lead to conflict. She works on thought-behavior links, emotion regulation skills, distress tolerance, communication, and problem solving. She also addresses trauma, domestic and sexual abuse, grief, blended family and coparenting challenges.
Her style emphasizes strengths and practical steps. Clients leave with specific skills and clear goals to try between sessions. The work is collaborative and paced according to each person’s needs and circumstances.
How sessions work
Therapeutic approaches for remote sessions
Client-centered therapy focuses on the client's goals and sense of what matters most. The therapist follows the adult’s priorities and supports them in setting the direction of work, which helps when home life feels overwhelming and choices need to be clarified.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It offers practical exercises to change unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors, which can reduce anxiety, low mood, and relationship-driven stress.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) teaches skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation. These skills help with intense emotions, communication problems, and patterns that lead to repeated conflict or self-defeating behavior.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with the client to choose which methods to use based on their goals, circumstances, and preferences. That choice can shift over time as new priorities emerge.
Confirm the current session formats before booking since the biography does not list them explicitly. Online work can make scheduling easier and reduce travel time, so sessions may fit into a lunch break or an evening at home more readily. It can also allow for shorter check-ins when life is especially busy, and for using written exercises and between-session practice that support progress.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
15+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English, German
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she help with related to family life?
She helps with family and relationship stress, blended family challenges, coparenting problems, and parenting strain.
What is her general approach in sessions?
She uses a client-centered, strengths-based approach and applies practical techniques from CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and solution-focused therapy.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 15 years of clinical experience working in a variety of settings with diverse cultural backgrounds.
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) licensed in California and practices there.
Can I work with her if I am not in the United States?
She does not accept international clients at this time; sessions are offered in English and German.
What session formats are offered?
The original biography does not list specific session formats; please confirm current session options before booking.
How are fees handled?
Cost varies with location; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Choose the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.