Bella Lurie, LMFT

Bella Lurie is a California-based licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) who helps people facing grief, intimacy-related issues, low self-esteem, career questions, and ADHD concerns. She speaks English, Hebrew, and Russian. Her work often draws on an interest in language, meaning, and how stories shape day-to-day life. Bella invites clients to look at how language and personal myth make sense of loss, joy, and identity. She uses a style influenced by positive psychology and a practice she calls Wake Dreaming to explore how speech, metaphor, and memory affect feelings and relationships. Sessions focus on clear, practical steps while also making space for discovery. Clients can expect gentle curiosity and direct conversation in sessions. Bella helps people notice patterns in how they speak about themselves and others. That can open new ways to handle grief, repair intimacy, or manage life changes like career shifts. Her background blends six years of clinical experience with approaches that pay attention to narrative and emotion. Bella’s LMFT credential stands for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. She draws on evidence-based techniques while tailoring work to each person’s needs. People who value language, metaphor, or creative reflection often find her approach useful. She encourages experimentation with new ways of speaking about pain and desire. Those curious about the Wake Dreaming practice are invited to discuss how it might fit their goals.

How narrative work and Wake Dreaming translate to online therapy

Wake Dreaming focuses on how language and personal stories shape feelings and relationships. In practice this means noticing the words people use for grief, shame, or hope and experimenting with different ways of saying things. That can help when someone wants to change how they talk about intimacy or rebuild self-esteem. Positive psychology techniques aim to build strengths and small daily habits that lift mood and confidence. These approaches often include identifying simple actions, gratitude practices, or skill-building exercises that fit into everyday life and support clearer communication. Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work together with the client to test methods and adjust the plan based on what feels useful. That means trying practical exercises, checking what helps, and shifting direction when needed. Session formats are not specified in the biography, so please confirm current session options before booking. Online work can make attending sessions easier to fit into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow for consistent check-ins during transitions like career changes or acute grief. It can also support shorter check-ins when time is limited or allow for more reflective conversation when that suits the client's goals.