Stanly Tran, LCSW

Therapy for over-thinkers tired of fighting their mind

Logical solutions cannot always solve psychological problems.

When life is simpler, it’s easier to autopilot through it. Things aren’t that bad after all, right? So nothing needs to change, right?

But as you’ve likely found, when our pain and problems start to overwhelm our ability to keep the ship steady, our mind (and body) does exactly what it was built to do: our mind’s “over-protective, over-analytical, problem-solving” nature logically, sorry, instinctively starts telling us what’s coming, what’s wrong, and what to do.

While our mind can’t steer the ship, it doesn’t quite trust us to either… So it does its job the only way it can: through thoughts and feelings shaped by old lessons we’ve lived and internalized. It’s trying to help, even when it isn’t.. So we do whatever it takes to “feel better,” or at least “not feel bad.” It works until it starts pulling us away from what actually matters. No amount of self-care, positivity, validation, or screen time seems to help. Rather than living a life, we are stuck surviving.

Hello, I’m Stanly 👋🏼

I’m most passionate about helping thoughtful, caring, hard-working people who are worn out by their own minds.

Like many of us, I was taught that certain thoughts or feelings are bad, that our worth depends on achievement, and that struggling is something to hide and mask. While this may have helped me achieve or accomplish things on the surface, they also gradually distorted my sense of self and reality, developing into excessive mental habits of catastrophic worrying and self-criticism and doubt. I wasted years arguing with my mind about what was “true/good/enough/safe”. Turns out the appearance of happiness or success ≠ true, authentic inner peace and satisfaction.

The problem usually isn’t a lack of effort nor is it that your mind is broken. Your mind learned to protect you in ways that once made sense but are both no longer necessary nor helpful. Together, we’ll understand why and work toward building a more functional and harmonious relationship with your mind.

  • I have more than a decade of clinical, managerial, and supervisory experience in a variety of adult mental health settings:

    • I began in community mental health, supporting people with serious mental illness, often made harder by substance use and limited access to resources and support. It was there I learned how serious mental illness profoundly weighs on families and friends, not just the person living with it.

    • I then worked in intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs, providing structured, intensive treatment for adults who needed more than weekly therapy, and regularly covered inpatient and outpatient substance use and detox units. That work taught me to see the humanity in people at their lowest points, and how much capacity for change remains even in the darkest moments.

    • Most recently, I spent several years as a therapist integrated into primary care, working alongside physicians to address mental health where people already go for care. Many patients never would have sought out therapy on their own, and seeing how much easy access helped them get support they might otherwise never have received reshaped how I think about mental health care.

    • In 2022, I launched this website and my online private practice, mid-COVID-19 pandemic. While I still believe nothing beats in-person work, the ability to work with people online has unlocked the ability to reach people all over California. This has been an extremely precious advantage, although it’s surreal to get so personally deep with people I will never physically meet!

  • Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
    CalSouthern University, in progress (estimated mid-2027 graduation)
    Doctoral Project: Systematic review of mechanisms of change in cognitive restructuring and metacognitive interventions for repetitive negative thinking

    Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
    California Board of Behavioral Sciences, 2017

    Master of Social Work (MSW), Concentration in Mental Health
    University of Southern California, 2014

    Bachelor of Science (BS) in Human Services
    California State University, Fullerton, 2012

I only work with individual adults currently residing in the state of California.

Accepted Insurances (via Octave Behavioral Health):

  • Aetna

  • Anthem Blue Cross of California

  • Blue Shield of California

  • Cigna/Evernorth

  • Healthnet/MHN

What people often come into work on:

Constantly caught up in head…
Worry and overthinking · a harsh inner critic, perfectionism, and shame · feeling down, stuck, or lost · frustration and irritability

Running on empty…
Burnout in caregiving, healthcare, education, law, and other helping roles · toxic workplaces · sleep thrown off by stress and a busy mind

Coping that backfires
Substances, screens, games, procrastination, really any habituated avoidance that produces short-term relief at the cost of long-term workability

Life changes
New parenthood (moms and dads, including postpartum anxiety and depression) · transitioning into early adulthood · career changes and retirement · relationship conflict or strain · divorce and separation · grief and loss

Who I often work with
Men · Asian Americans and children of immigrants · LGBTQ+ people, including trans and queer clients