Marilyn Viera brings to the South Orange County community over 20 years of vast experiences in mental health. She has a love for knowledge and is always in search for cutting edge information on treatments, health, mental wellness and community resources for her patients. This quest has led to her working with all ages across the developmental life spans from preschoolers to older adults. Marilyn easily builds rapport and patients feel at ease working with her. They appreciate how intuitively she can recognize their situations and assess what approaches work best for each person. Her patients appreciate her direct style of solution oriented counseling that helps them to create changes they can see quickly. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help her patients create healthier thought patterns and correct irrational fears or beliefs that interfere with having the life they want.
What most people don’t know is that she works great with college age young adults that are still finding their paths and having difficulties moving forward from unhealthy relationships, searching for an identity, and confidence in their life’s purpose.
On her free time, she loves to be on new traveling adventures with her husband of 20 years, skiing, yoga, reading and cooking. She’s also a soccer mom that adores watching her teens play club soccer.
Credentials
- CA Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- License # LCS20570
- BA in Psychology
- California State University Dominguez Hills
- MA in Social Work- MSW
- California State University Long Beach
- Board Certified Diplomat in Clinical Social Work (BCD)
- Certified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)
- Member of The Association For Addicted Professionals (NAADAC)
- Certified Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (Jeffrey Mitchell Model)
- Member of National Association of Social Workers
- Certified Advanced Children, Youth & Family Social Worker (C-ACYFSW)
- Member of National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
- Red Cross Volunteer for Disaster Mental Health Team
Mission Statement
My obligation to each and every patient is to help them get back on track to meet their individualized goals, in a supportive, collaborative, nurturing therapeutic relationship, in the most efficient way possible. This is more than my job, it is my calling to serve and heal those whose hearts are hurting.
Professional Experience
- Private Practice 2002-present time
- Employee Assistance Counselor/Consultant at Oakley 2019-Present
- Disaster Mental Health 2007-present time
- Provide crisis, emergency, disaster and grief counseling to companies for the wellbeing of their employees impacted.
- Sept 1998-June 2001
- Psychiatric Social Worker – Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, Los Angeles
- Provided psychotherapy for children and adolescents, families and teen group counseling in Spanish and English.
- Participated in multidisciplinary grand rounds, clinical didactic conferences, student individual education plans and case presentations.
- July 1996‑April 1998
- Mental Health Coordinator – Federation Head Start Preschool, Carson
- Identified “at‑risk” children and coordinated treatment plans through IEP’s
- Coordinated mental health training for Head Start staff emphasizing child development and behavioral problems
- May 1997‑August 1997
- Social Work Intern – Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Long Beach
- Provided individual and group psychotherapy with older adult clients
- Connected clients to community resources
- November 1993‑May 1996
- Deputy Probation Counselor
- Orange County Probation Department, Orange
- Supervised juveniles in Juvenile Hall and Juvenile Court Work Program
- Facilitated psychoeducational training and rehabilitation for day treatment program
- January 1993‑Nov 1993
- Child Care Assistant – Casita de San Jose, Orange
- Supervised sexually and physically abused children ages five to twelve years old at a residential home
- Implemented behavioral modification treatment plans
