MEET AMELIA

Therapist for High Achievers | Anxiety, Identity & Relationships in Los Angeles

The World Sees Your Strength. You Know What’s Underneath.

At the gym you’re locked in. The drive is there. The focus is there. Everything is working the way it’s supposed to.

And then something shifts.

Maybe it’s subtle at first. The workouts are still happening but the feeling isn’t. The food rules that used to feel like structure now feel like the only thing holding everything together. The irritability that used to be focus has nowhere productive to go. You’re performing fine on the outside but you don’t quite recognize yourself on the inside.

Or maybe it’s not subtle at all. Maybe you’re exhausted in a way that sleep doesn’t fix. Maybe the drive that has always been your most reliable thing feels like it’s turning on you. Maybe the disordered eating, the compulsive exercise, the body image stuff you’ve been managing quietly is getting harder to ignore. Maybe you’re alone in a room full of people who think they know you — and none of them really do.

You don’t just want better results. You want to feel like yourself again.

That’s where this work begins — with a sports therapist in Los Angeles who already speaks your language.

I don’t just understand athletes academically — I am one. But the drive, the discipline, the all-or-nothing mentality — that’s not exclusive to sport. I work with anyone who lives at high intensity. Who needs the motor running. Who finds meaning in pursuit, in results, in the feeling of being fully locked in. Who runs on caffeine and momentum and the particular electricity of always being in motion.

I know what it means to train hard, push through, and find identity in the pursuit of physical excellence. From competing in team sports growing up to olympic lifting, marathon finish lines, Spartan Races and Tough Mudders — I’ve spent my life in that mindset.

I also know what it costs.

That lifestyle has a burn rate. The same energy that makes high intensity people exceptional — the focus, the drive, the ability to push through what most people can’t — runs hot. And when it runs too hot for too long without somewhere healthy to go, it turns. Into rigid food rules. Compulsive training. Irritability. Resentment. A creeping sense of emptiness that doesn’t make sense from the outside. You’re surrounded by people and completely alone with it. Performing fine but not recognizing yourself anymore. The one thing you’ve always been able to count on — your drive, your motivation, your energy — starting to feel unreliable.

That lived experience — combined with over a decade training hundreds of clients as a personal trainer and studio owner in Los Angeles — means I don’t need a crash course in how athletes and high intensity adults think, feel, or struggle. I already speak that language.

I also know what happens when the tool becomes the identity. When discipline stops being something you do and becomes something you are. And what it feels like when that identity starts costing more than it’s giving back.

When you work with me you won’t have to explain why this matters so much. You won’t have to translate your world or justify your choices. I already get it — from the inside.

I Know This World Because I’ve Lived In It.

My Philosophy

I believe the drive that builds exceptional people is the same drive that can quietly work against them — especially in a culture that celebrates intensity without ever asking what it costs.

Most of my clients are optimizers. High functioning, deeply motivated, genuinely good at what they do. They’ve built real things — careers, bodies, relationships, identities — through discipline, consistency, and an almost biological need to pursue. The world has rewarded all of it.

What they’ve lost — or are starting to lose — is the felt sense of themselves underneath it all. The motor is still running. They just can’t feel themselves driving anymore.

What makes my work different is the relational lens. I’m an MFT — a Marriage and Family Therapist — which means I don’t just look at symptoms. I look at systems. Your relationship to your body. Your relationship to food. Your relationship to your drive. Your relationship to the people who matter most to you. That’s where the real patterns live. And that’s where things actually change.

The optimizer’s system works everywhere except in relationships. Because relationships require exactly what the system cannot tolerate — uncertainty, vulnerability, flexibility, outcomes you can’t control. So the people closest to you get managed instead of truly met. And the loneliness that creates is profound.

I specialize in disordered eating, orthorexia, compulsive exercise, body image, OCD informed treatment, and life transitions — with athletes, high achievers, and high intensity adults across Los Angeles and California. People for whom discipline and dysfunction have looked identical for a long time.

I call what I do Relationship Fitness — building the mental and emotional strength that makes you stronger in your body, in your relationships, and in your life. Not just performing okay. Actually okay.

The difference between a functional system and a dysfunctional one is rarely the drive — it’s the flexibility. We soften the hard edges and build in the adaptability that lets the system actually work for you.


What it’s like to work together

We start by slowing it down. Creating a foundation of trust and honest conversation. I listen closely, ask questions that actually go somewhere, and pay attention to the patterns that keep showing up — in your performance, your body, and your most important relationships.

Together we explore how the drive developed, what it’s been protecting, and what it costs now versus what it used to cost. We look at how your system — the rituals, the control, the need for certainty — is showing up in your relationship to yourself, to food and your body, and to the people closest to you. Because that’s where the patterns are most visible. And that’s where change is most felt.

We work at a pace that feels challenging but manageable. Because you’re someone who does better with something to push against.

Along the way you’ll get practical tools for regulation and coping that actually fit your life — not generic wellness advice but specific skills for high intensity people navigating high intensity lives. Online therapy means sessions fit around your training schedule, your travel, your life.

Over time the work gets deeper. Insight builds. The patterns that used to run the show become something you can see clearly — and choose differently. There will be moments of real recognition, some discomfort, and yes — probably some laughter.

The goal isn’t a quieter life. It’s the ability to relax and be present — in your body, in your relationships, and in your life. To actually enjoy the person you’ve become and the life you’ve already built and are continuing to build. The motor still running. Just finally working for you.


Therapeutic Modalities

I draw from somatic rewiring, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, CBT, attachment-based therapy, and sports psychology — evidence-based approaches tailored specifically to athletes, high achievers, and high intensity adults.

My training is fundamentally relational. We are hurt in relationship and we heal in relationship. That belief sits at the center of everything I do — with individuals and couples alike. I’m trained in Gottman Couples Therapy, which informs not just my work with couples but how I understand every client’s relational patterns, attachment style, and the way their system shows up with the people closest to them.

I work from a trauma-informed lens and bring over a decade of fitness industry experience into every session. As a Performance & Relational Therapist in Los Angeles I understand the culture you’re operating in from the inside. That context is as clinically important as any therapeutic framework.

Every treatment plan is built around you. Because high intensity people don’t do well with generic — and the most effective therapy for optimizers looks nothing like the most effective therapy for everyone else.

All sessions are conducted online, serving athletes, high achievers, and high intensity adults across Los Angeles, California, and beyond.

  • Amelia is a highly accomplished licensed marital, family, and couples therapist, with a career that bridges psychology, wellness, and human performance. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from Ithaca College and her Master’s in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School – graduating on the Dean’s List for both.

    Ithaca College

    • Bachelor of Science, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Ithaca College (Dean’s List)

    The Chicago School

    • Master’s in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School, (Dean’s List)

    • License in Marital, Family, & Couples Therapy

    • Guest lecturer at The Chicago School on Sleep & Exercise

    • Gottman Level One Training for Couples Therapy - Gottman’s Institute

    • Interpersonal Psychology - Therapist Development Center

    • Clinical Assessments: Life, Stressors, & Coping - Therapist Development Center

  • Los Angeles Emotional Wellness Group

    • Served 2 years as an associate of Dr. Mohun, CBT & Emotional Wellness expert

    Mindful Mommy LA

    • Guest speaker Mommy and Me on Exercise and Pregnancy (including mental/physical/emotional dimensions)

    PUC Art Therapy

    • 1 Year Practicum - PUC Art Therapy – School-based children’s therapy

    Additional Therapeutic Experience

    • Served 2 years as an associate of Dr. Redman, a Relational & Psychodynamic expert

    • Experienced with OCD, anxiety, trauma, professional coaching (career), couples, & families

    American Council of Exercise

    • Certified Personal Trainer

    Yoga Works

    • 200 hour teacher training

    Crunch Fitness

    • 10+ years as personal training at crunch fitness in NYC & LA (PT manager at Crunch Sunset & awarded President’s Award)

    • Nutritional Coaching Certificate

    • TRX Training Certificate

    • Kettle Bells training certificate

    Amrose Fitness

    • 5 years as studio owner in West Hollywood, California & celebrity trainer, Amrose Fitness

Ready to feel like yourself again?

Work with me

You’ve done the hard part — you’re here. The next step is simple. A free 15-minute consultation where we get to know each other and figure out if we’re the right fit.

No pressure. No commitment. Just a real conversation with someone who already speaks your language.

Let’s Talk

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