You don’t have to have it together… to start.
Presente contigo — Present with you.
Most people who reach out aren't sure what they need yet. They just know something feels heavy, they feel stuck, or that they've been sitting with it alone for too long. That's enough to begin. We'll figure out the rest together.
Rachel Diaz Rivas · Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #141509
Supervised by Yvette Kumar, LMFT #91273
Virtual · California
También ofrezco terapia en español · I also offer therapy in Spanish
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
I’m not looking for a polished version of you.
When I think about the person who might reach out to me, I think about someone sitting with their phone late at night, not knowing quite what to say... just knowing something needs to shift.
That person doesn't need a therapist with a perfect bio. They need someone who is human first. Someone who has felt lost, unsure, not quite enough. Someone still learning too.
That's me. I'm Rachel. I'm really glad you found your way here.
WHERE I COME FROM
Rooted in nature,
in family, in beauty.
Having people around you doesn’t always mean feeling supported. You can be surrounded by love and still feel completely alone.
I grew up in a home full of people who showed up for me — and I still know what that loneliness feels like. My grandparents, my mom, my sister, my uncles, all of us under one roof, doing our best. It wasn't always easy. But it taught me that connection and loneliness can live in the same house.
My family came from Nicaragua. They survived things I'm still learning to understand. They didn't always have the language for what they were holding, but they had each other — and the capacity to find beauty even when life was hard.
"My mom is still finding her joy. She's older now... and she's still learning who she is. I'm learning who I am too. We're doing it at the same time."
That's what brought me to this work. Not a textbook. The lived understanding that growth takes time, it takes tending, and it happens in relationship.
Sacuanjoche
NICARAGUA’S NATIONAL FLOWER - RESILIENCE AND IDENTITY
The sacuanjoche blooms small and white and fragrant in places that have known hardship. It is Nicaragua's national flower, and it has always felt like home to me.
What I love about it is that it asks nothing in return. It offers its beauty and its fragrance freely — no nectar, no exchange. It simply blooms.
That's how I think about this work. Not a transaction. Not fixing or being fixed — but simply showing up, fully, for another person. Two living things in relationship, helping each other grow.
HOW I THINK ABOUT GROWTH
People don’t change because someone tells them to.
They grow because they were given enough nutrients to flourish.
You lead the way
I'm not here to fix you or hand you a checklist. You are the expert on your own life. My job is to walk alongside you — curious, present, following your lead.
Presence is the work
Sometimes the most powerful thing is simply being genuinely here with you. Fully. Without rushing. That's the intervention.
We grow together
I never want to ask you to do something I'm not willing to do myself. I'm in this work too — not as someone who has it figured out, but as someone who keeps showing up anyway.
"I know what it's like to carry more than you show. To come from somewhere hard and still not know how to ask for help. I bring all of that into this space with you."
ON PRESENCE AND ANIMALS
This is Aries.
He teaches me things I can’t learn from a textbook.
Our nervous systems are always speaking — to the people we love, to the animals who trust us, to the clients who sit across from us. Aries is calmer at the vet without me. Not because he doesn't need me — but because my anxiety speaks louder than my words, and his body hears every word of it.
“Parts of ourselves show up everywhere — in how we enter a room, in who becomes calm around us, and in who picks up what we're sitting with without us saying a thing."
That awareness — of what we bring into a room without saying a word — is at the heart of how I work. And it's part of why animal-assisted therapy is something I'm actively working toward.
WHO I WORK WITH
You might be in the right place if…
I work with teens, young adults, and adults who are somewhere in the middle of something — a transition, a question, a season that doesn't quite have a name yet. You don't need to fit neatly into a category to belong here.
You're figuring out who you are: Starting college, leaving home, navigating your 20s. Big transitions deserve real, unhurried support.
You’re holding more than you let on: Anxiety, self-doubt, the weight of expectations. You hold it together... but it's exhausting.
You want someone who gets the cultural context: You're tired of explaining yourself from scratch. I understand what it means to navigate multiple worlds at once.
You feel alone even when you're not: You have people. And you still feel unseen. That's real, and it's exactly where we can begin.
You've never been to therapy before: Most of my clients come in not knowing what they need. That's exactly where we start.
You want to grow, not just cope: You're not in crisis. You just know something needs to shift. That's more than enough.
¿Prefieres hablar en español? También ofrezco sesiones completamente en español. Solo dímelo cuando me escribas. I also offer sessions fully in Spanish — just let me know when you reach out.
You’ve been thinking about this long enough.
Reaching out is the hardest part. Everything after that, we figure out together. Start with a free 15-minute consultation — no commitment, no pressure, just a real conversation.