Chanin Santini, LCSW

Chanin Santini is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, and intimacy-related concerns. She works with clients who want clearer communication, stronger self-esteem, or support through relationship transitions. Conversations are straightforward and focused on practical next steps. She brings 15 years of experience to each session. Sessions center on the person in front of her, with attention to how past hurts and current patterns shape daily life. Chanin also supports people navigating sexuality-related matters, gender dysphoria, and LGBT concerns with an affirming stance. Her work addresses trauma and abuse, addictions, anger, and coping with major life changes. She pays close attention to attachment issues, codependency, and body image struggles. People also consult her around fertility, cancer-related distress, divorce and separation, and first responder issues. Chanin uses several practical approaches to help clients make concrete changes. She blends client-centered listening with tools drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy when those methods fit the goals. She also uses mindfulness practices and relationship-focused techniques informed by the Gottman Method. Clients can expect a collaborative process that looks at patterns, builds skills, and sets doable goals. The work is paced to each person, with attention to values and real-life demands. Chanin practices in California and offers services in English.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and responding to what the client needs in each session. Online sessions can use that same open, collaborative stance to help people clarify goals and feel heard. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, teaches practical skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and is useful for anxiety, depression, and stress. In remote sessions CBT can include homework, thought records, and short skill practice between meetings. Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. In online work DBT skills can be taught and practiced in session and applied to everyday moments that clients bring up. Finding the right approach is part of the work. Chanin will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She adjusts the pace and tools based on what is most helpful in real life. Confirm the available session formats before booking, as formats are not specified here. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets people use written tools and worksheets between meetings to build skills between sessions.