Janice Ruchlis

Janice Ruchlis is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with three decades of experience helping people cope with grief, trauma, anxiety, and major life changes. She focuses on practical ways to feel steadier day to day and to rebuild a more positive sense of self. Her approach aims to make difficult problems easier to talk about and manage.

In sessions she combines ideas from attachment work, cognitive-behavioral strategies, and mindfulness. That means talking about patterns in relationships, learning concrete skills to change unhelpful thoughts, and practicing ways to calm the body and mind. She also draws on emotionally-focused and narrative ideas to help people reframe painful stories and strengthen close bonds.

Janice has worked with people facing addictions, chronic illness, caregiving strain, and identity concerns. She also helps those dealing with parenting stress, career shifts, and intimacy questions. Her background includes long experience with grief, compassion fatigue, and people navigating disability or chronic pain.

She emphasizes listening to each person’s history and cultural background. Sessions include a mix of reflection, skill-building exercises, and practical problem solving. The aim is to help clients notice patterns, try new ways of relating, and find manageable steps forward.

Janice practices in California and has supported clients from different national backgrounds. She uses her LMFT credential to guide relational and family-focused work while keeping therapy grounded and easy to follow.

How these approaches translate to online work

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on relationship patterns and how early bonds shape current connections. Online sessions using attachment ideas can help people notice repeating patterns and practice different ways of relating in real time. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT tools are easy to use in online conversations and through short exercises between sessions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, emphasizes emotional regulation and distress-tolerance skills that people can practice during and after sessions when emotions run high.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the therapeutic process. The therapist collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals and comfort. That means checking what helps, adjusting tools, and pacing work so clients can try new skills between meetings.

Session logistics should be confirmed before booking since specific formats are not listed in the biography. Discuss which session arrangements best fit your routine and energy level during the matching step. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into busy days, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. It also lets people keep a consistent schedule across different locations and time zones while focusing on practical skills and relationship work.