Leilani Norman, LMFTA

she/her

Education and Experience

My path into this work has been shaped by more than one career, and by more than one identity. My life experience has given me a deep appreciation for the many different paths people walk—shaped by race, economic access, education, and identity—and a genuine welcome for whoever you are and whatever background you bring into the room. I'm the parent of two adults, and I've been a stepparent as well — both journeys laid the groundwork for my clinical training, teaching me firsthand about development, growth, and the complicated, layered nature of family relationships.  

My earliest work experience was in skilled nursing, where I first encountered the realities of aging, illness, and institutional care up close — a thread that would resurface later in my own caregiving and in my clinical focus on later life. Living in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS epidemic left a lasting mark on how I think about loss, resilience, and community. I earned a BA in Psychology, then a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy, along with a Gerontology Certificate. Between those chapters, I spent 25-plus years as an entrepreneur, designer, and artist — running my own design and manufacturing business — and as an IT manager and consultant across professional services in law, architecture, and higher education. That mix of creative and analytical work taught me a lot about resilience, reinvention, and sitting with the unknown.

I'm a Licensed Couple/Marriage & Family Therapy Associate. I hold additional certifications as a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (Level II: Complex Trauma), a Mental Health & Nutrition Clinical Specialist, and an Evergreen Certified Dementia Care Specialist. I continue ongoing self-education in nutrition, integrative health, and neuroscience—including Polyvagal Theory and positive neuroplasticity research.

I'm also the author of Caring Is Art: Gifts of Appreciation & Encouragement for Caregivers (2022), which grew out of my experience supporting my parents and friends through their end-of-life journeys. 

Approach to Counseling

My work sits at the intersection of relational challenges and growth, often working with clients affected by trauma. Trauma doesn't only live in memory. It lives in the nervous system, in the parts of us that learned to survive, and in every relationship that matters.

I draw on Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO), Relational Life Therapy, and Solution-Focused Narrative Therapy — frameworks that meet you where you are and move at your pace. Sessions are warm, direct, and never formulaic. We follow what matters most to you and keep our eyes on the life you want. I work with individuals and couples with a deep belief in each person's capacity for resilience and growth.