Dr. Marina Costanzo, PhD
Dr. Marina Costanzo supports clients through a diverse range of challenges, from daily stressors to more significant issues, with particular focus on gender and sexuality, trauma, PTSD, identity development, meaning-making, and healthy relationships.
Book with Dr. Marina Costanzo
Call (858) 215-4844
Message first
Working with Marina
My work is grounded in a holistic mental health approach that blends evidence-based, research-backed therapy with compassion, cultural humility, and relational depth. We may be a good fit if you want treatment that's tailored rather than one-size-fits-all, are interested in understanding the patterns underneath the symptoms alongside coping skills, and value open space to talk about identity, culture, and power. I work with people navigating trauma, anxiety, OCD, depression, phobias, substance-use concerns, life transitions, and sexualized or relational violence — as well as connecting to more joy, self-compassion, and meaning-making.
My approach is social-justice–informed: distress doesn't occur in a vacuum — it's shaped by identity, power, history, and the systems we live within. I work to understand your experiences within the context of your intersectional identities and socio-ecological environments, attending explicitly to the impact of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and institutional or medical harm. The goal isn't only symptom relief, but clarity, agency, joy, and a more compassionate relationship with yourself.
We'll begin with a thorough intake to understand your goals, strengths, identities, and stressors. From there I draw from approaches like ACT, CBT, and exposure-based strategies when clinically indicated — always within a holistic approach that centers compassion, affirmation, and clarity. You are the expert on your life; my role is to bring clinical expertise, curiosity, and care to help you move toward greater understanding, flexibility, and meaningful change.
What Marina treats
Struggling after a really stressful experience — difficult memories, sleep, feeling on edge, and changes in how you see yourself, other people, or the world.
Constant worry or racing thoughts, panic, that "what if" loop you can't switch off.
Intrusive thoughts you can't shake, and the checking or rituals you do to feel okay.
Recurring conflict, feeling disconnected, or growing apart — and rebuilding closeness and trust.
Care that accounts for your culture, background, and identity — and never asks you to leave any part of yourself at the door.
Low mood, loss of interest, exhaustion, or feeling stuck and disconnected from what used to matter.
Affirming support around gender identity and transition, with collaborative care that centers you.
Affirming support for queer lives and relationships, from someone who won't make you explain the basics.
Specific, intense fears — of places, situations, or things — that quietly shrink what your life can include.
Feeling stretched thin, overwhelmed, or running on empty — a low-pressure place to start when everything feels like too much.
Looking honestly at alcohol or drug use and what you want it to look like — without shame.
Care that understands the weight of service and frontline work — burnout, trauma, transition, and moral injury.
Understanding how your brain works — ADHD, autism, focus, follow-through — and building a life that works with it, not against it.
Living with loss — of a person, a relationship, a future you expected — at your own pace.
Marina also brings specific experience with: Identity Exploration, Sex & Gender, Life Transitions, Meaning Making, Health Conditions, History of Incarceration, Marginalized backgrounds.
Approaches Marina uses
Other clinicians at Grounded.
If Marina isn’t the right fit — or the schedule doesn’t work — these clinicians might be.
Dr. Becca Graham
Dr. Maria Meinerding
