01
Serious mental
health challenges
Experience supporting adults living with serious mental illness through individual therapy, group support, crisis assessment, and coordinated community care.
Stability, dignity, and recoveryCARE THAT STARTS WITH YOU
Room to be heard.
Support to move forward.
Life can feel heavy. Finding support shouldn’t add to the weight. I’m Christina, a Registered Associate Social Worker with experience helping people navigate complex mental health challenges.
Currently offering consultation only. Projected to be licensed for private-practice psychotherapy by January 2027.
One step at a time.
CALIFORNIA REGISTRATIONRegistered Associate Social Worker ASW 125693
EDUCATIONMaster of Social Work Clinical focus
CURRENT AVAILABILITYConsultation only Private-practice psychotherapy projected January 2027
AREAS OF EXPERIENCE
Support for the things
that feel hard to carry.
Every person’s needs are different. My background combines clinical mental health care with the practical support that helps people navigate everyday life.
Serious mental
02
Trauma and
substance use
Care informed by an understanding of trauma, including Seeking Safety groups, coping skills, substance use counseling, and harm reduction approaches.
Safety, choice, and compassion03
Children, youth,
and families
A background in therapy, family education, and behavioral support, with collaboration across caregivers, schools, child welfare, and treatment teams.
Connection and understanding04
Navigating care
and resources
Practical experience connecting people with housing, healthcare, community services, and other supports while advocating within complex systems.
A clearer path to supportMY THERAPEUTIC STYLE
The whole person.
The whole picture.
I believe therapy should feel like a partnership—not a place where someone tells you who you are or what you should do. We look at what is hurting, what has helped you survive, and what would make life feel more manageable.
IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE
What working together may feel like
You set the direction
I listen without judgment and take time to understand your experiences, culture, relationships, and priorities. Together, we choose goals that matter to you and move at a pace that feels safe and realistic.
We make sense of patterns
We notice how thoughts, emotions, past experiences, and current situations may be affecting one another. I help you name what is happening and practice tools for handling intense feelings, stress, and difficult moments.
We build on what is already there
You are more than a diagnosis or a difficult season. We identify the strengths and survival skills you already use, then build practical strategies that fit your life—not a one-size-fits-all plan.
We consider real-life barriers
Mental health does not exist separately from housing, family, work, healthcare, culture, or community. When helpful, we connect emotional support with resources, advocacy, and care coordination.
IN CLINICAL TERMS
An integrative, person-centered approach
My clinical orientation is collaborative, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, strengths-based, and grounded in a person-in-environment perspective. Treatment is individualized according to the client’s goals, readiness, needs, and lived context.
Person-Centered & Strengths-Based
Prioritizes the therapeutic alliance, client self-determination, existing capacities, and collaborative goal setting.
Trauma-Informed Care & Seeking Safety
Emphasizes emotional and physical safety, choice, empowerment, stabilization, coping, and the connection between trauma and substance use.
Cognitive & Behavioral Approaches
Draws from CBT and DBT-informed interventions to examine thought-behavior-emotion patterns and strengthen mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Uses acceptance, present-moment awareness, cognitive defusion, values clarification, and committed action to increase psychological flexibility.
Systems & Ecological Perspective
Considers family, culture, community, institutions, and social determinants of health, integrating advocacy, case management, and interdisciplinary care coordination when appropriate.
Harm Reduction & Recovery-Oriented Care
Meets clients where they are, supports informed choice, reduces risk, and recognizes that recovery is individualized and non-linear.
These descriptions explain Christina’s therapeutic style and clinical perspective. At this time, Christina offers consultation only and is projected to be licensed for private-practice psychotherapy by January 2027.
MEET CHRISTINA
Grounded in experience.
Guided by care.
I’m Christina Guevara, MSW, a Registered Associate Social Worker with a background in community mental health, education, and behavioral support.
My work with Stanislaus County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services has included supporting adults with serious mental illness, as well as children, young people, and families. That experience has taught me to pay attention to both emotional needs and the systems that shape access to care.
Before entering clinical social work, I supported students and people with developmental disabilities in school and community settings. Across these roles, the focus has remained the same: listen carefully, respect each person’s strengths, and help make the next step more manageable.
Start a conversationLCSW LICENSURE PROGRESS
Clinical experience,
by the numbers.
Hours transcribed from the readable Dawn, Shannete, Natalie and Val records and reviewed September 18, 2026. All recorded hours are included in this estimate, including unsigned Dawn and Val logs. Identical reuploads are counted once. These are provisional record totals, not hours approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS).
A1 · Psychotherapy subtotal1,184
Included within category A; never added twice.
A + B · Recorded subtotal3,388
Before the category B cap and overlap review.
After the category B cap only2,569.5
Provisional maximum; final countable hours remain unconfirmed.
| Source | A · Clinical | A1 · Psychotherapy* | B · Nonclinical | C · A + B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawn · 11 weekly logs | 976 | 812.5 | 970 | 1,946 |
| Shannete · verification form | 466.5 | 263.5 | 735.5 | 1,202 |
| Natalie · verification form | 0 | Not entered† | 20 | 20 |
| Val · unsigned weekly log (val2.pdf) | 127 | 108 | 93 | 220 |
| Readable-file subtotal | 1,569.5 | 1,184 | 1,818.5 | 3,388 |
*A1 is a subset of A. †Natalie’s A1 field is blank; no A1 hours were added, consistent with the form’s recorded A = 0. Dawn’s July 26–September 13, 2026 A1 entries are blank with a printed subtotal of 0, used as written.
What could count toward the 3,000-hour requirement?
1,569.5 clinical hours + 1,000 nonclinical hours = 2,569.5 hours. The recorded B subtotal exceeds the allowable maximum by 818.5 hours. This calculation applies only that cap; it assumes the underlying hours are distinct and otherwise eligible.
On that assumption, at least 430.5 additional category A clinical hours would be needed to reach both 2,000 clinical hours and 3,000 total hours. The recorded A1 subtotal exceeds the 750-hour minimum by 434 hours, subject to verification of eligibility and overlap. Missing records or corrections may change these figures.
BBS requires 3,000 qualifying hours, including at least 2,000 clinical hours and 750 face-to-face psychotherapy hours within those clinical hours, with no more than 1,000 nonclinical hours. BBS experience requirements (PDF).
Supervision totals and items to verify
| Source | Individual / triadic | Group |
|---|---|---|
| Dawn | 98 | Not entered |
| Shannete | Not entered | 146 |
| Natalie | 1 | Not entered |
| Val | 3 | 16 |
| Recorded subtotal | 102 | 162 |
The 264 recorded supervision hours are not added on top of A + B: direct supervisor contact belongs in B. Confirm with the supervisors that B includes those hours, particularly Dawn’s rows that show supervision but B = 0.
- Overlapping periods: Dawn’s logs cover portions of October 20, 2024–September 13, 2026. Shannete’s verification covers October 27, 2024–July 4, 2026, and Natalie’s covers December 6, 2024. Val’s log covers July 5–September 13, 2026 at Modesto Integrated Community Supports and overlaps Dawn’s dates and work address. Dawn, Shannete and Natalie name the county employer. Overlap does not prove duplication, but these files do not establish that every reported hour is separate. Reconcile the underlying weekly records before claiming a combined total.
- Signatures and supervisor credentials: Dawn’s and Val’s supplied weekly logs have blank signature fields and do not identify the supervisors’ license types. Their hours are included in this estimate as requested; signatures and eligibility still need verification before a licensing claim. Obtain signed documentation and verify the required LCSW-supervised experience. Natalie and Shannete are identified as LMFTs on their forms.
- Weekly limits: Review combined records against the 40-hour limit in any seven consecutive days and the six-hour weekly supervision cap. For the week of September 6, 2026, Val records 40 hours and Dawn records 20: the combined 60 exceeds the 40-hour limit. Reconcile those records and the A/B allocation; the cap-only estimate above does not subtract this weekly excess or possible duplicated hours. The verification forms’ 45-hour average workweeks do not mean 45 hours can be credited. Reconcile year-boundary rows dated December 29, 2024 / January 1, 2025 and December 28, 2025 / January 1, 2026.
- Supervised weeks: Hours of supervision are not weeks. Dawn has 91 dated rows, including year-boundary splits; Val has 10 dated rows, Shannete reports 64 weeks and Natalie reports one. These cannot simply be added. Confirm 104 distinct qualifying weeks, including 52 with individual or triadic supervision and 13 of those with an LCSW, plus at least 1,700 hours of LCSW-supervised experience.
- Missing or inconsistent records: Val’s readable replacement, val2.pdf, is now included; the original val.pdf and identical val(1).pdf remain blank and add no hours. Val’s new sheet has no August 9, 2026 row. Review the missing Dawn period between May 11 and August 3, 2025 and the blank recent A1 entries. Natalie’s and Shannete’s forms mark the work setting as private practice while naming a county employer; have the supervisors verify and initial any needed corrections.
- Other eligibility checks: Confirm qualifying post-degree dates, active registration or the applicable 90-day exception, supervision agreements, weekly supervision ratios, and the six-year experience window. These documents alone do not establish all licensing requirements.
Rules and documentation guidance: BBS ASW FAQ, revised January 2026 (PDF), especially questions 16, 25–26 and 37–38. Final acceptance is determined by BBS.
Dawn’s page-by-page calculation
Source: dawn_20260918204248.pdf. Page order follows the uploaded file; the figures below match each printed page subtotal.
| Page · period | A | A1 | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Jul 26–Sep 13, 2026 | 80 | 0 | 80 | 160 |
| 2 · May 17–Jul 19, 2026 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
| 3 · Mar 8–May 10, 2026 | 110 | 107 | 110 | 220 |
| 4 · Jan 1–Mar 1, 2026 | 120 | 115 | 120 | 240 |
| 5 · Dec 21–28, 2025 | 30 | 25 | 30 | 60 |
| 6 · Oct 12–Dec 14, 2025 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
| 7 · Aug 3–Oct 5, 2025 | 110 | 106 | 110 | 220 |
| 8 · Mar 9–May 11, 2025 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
| 9 · Oct 20–Dec 22, 2024 | 100 | 49.5 | 100 | 200 |
| 10 · Dec 29, 2024 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 · Jan 1–Mar 2, 2025 | 118 | 108 | 120 | 238 |
| Dawn subtotal | 976 | 812.5 | 970 | 1,946 |
Other sources: Shannete(1).pdf, page 2; natalie(1).pdf, page 2; val2.pdf, page 1. The reuploaded Dawn, Shannete, Natalie and original Val files are identical to their earlier copies and are counted once. val(1).pdf contains two blank pages; Val’s 220 hours come from val2.pdf. Original documents and signatures are not published here.
CONSULTATION INQUIRIES
You don’t need all
the right words.
Just a place to start.
Christina currently offers consultation only. She is projected to be licensed for private-practice psychotherapy by January 2027. Professional collaboration inquiries are welcome, too.
Ask about consultation by email.
Email Christina christinamarieguevara@gmail.comPlease keep your first email brief and leave out sensitive health information. Emailing does not establish a therapist-client relationship.