Triva Ponder, LMFT

Triva Ponder enjoys her second career as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and is grateful to have found her true calling. Triva earned her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis in Consciousness Health And Healing from the University of Santa Monica. As an undergraduate, Triva earned her degree in Economics from Pepperdine University.

Triva works with couples using a Gottman Informed Approach. She is a trained leader for a Gottman course. Triva likes working in session practicing communication skills to help couples learn how to take the pain out of communicating, and incorporates a Psychodynamic approach and is a TEAM CBT practitioner.

Post degree, Triva completed one year of intensive Gestalt Training at the Pacific Gestalt Institute and has trained with numerous organizations and individuals including Dr. David Burns (The Feeling Good Institute TEAM-CBT), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing), Marshall Rosenberg (Non Violent Communication), Internal Family Systems Training (Self Leadership), Kelly Loch (Effortless Mindfulness), and John and Julie Gottman. Triva has attended dozens of silent retreats over the past 3 decades with various organizations including InsightLA. Triva currently maintains an ongoing, daily Mindfulness practice. She is a certified grief educator, holds a certificate in Spiritual Psychology, and is a leader for Gottman’s course, “The Seven Principles For Making A Marriage Work.”

Whether alone, at work, with family, or with friends, if an individual habitually finds their feelings and needs being suppressed (by self or others), feelings of anger, fear, sadness, guilt and shame can build, influencing one’s thoughts and behaviors, often in regrettable ways, laying the foundation for ongoing, behavioral and interpersonal challenges. Mindfully exploring, identifying, and successfully working with these powerful energies in ways that increase self esteem is a major key. Few of us grow up being taught how to effectively listen to, manage, and communicate with ourselves and with others.

Examples of problematic behavioral patterns include: self criticism, pessimism, unstable moods, impulsivity, avoidance / procrastination, vigilance, over thinking, lying, self medicating, duplicity, controlling behaviors, approval-seeking behaviors, and desire void of pleasure,

In developing awareness of the mind/body connection, new choices for responding begin to emerge. Clients practice identifying and expressing these new awarenesses in ways that better meet client needs based on client values.