At a glance
- Credentials
- LMFT
- License
- LMFT, California / 39140
- NPI
- 1629261300
- Experience
- 30 years
- Languages
- English
- Location
- California
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
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- Strengths focused
- Goal oriented
- Compassionate guidance
About Cheryl
Cheryl Wharton is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in California with 30 years of counseling experience. She focuses on helping individuals who feel stuck by stress, anxiety, depression, relationship pain, addictions, grief, and life changes. Cheryl aims to create a warm, respectful space where people can be heard and begin to move toward the life they want.
She encourages clients to identify strengths and build resilience. Sessions include straightforward conversations about goals, sources of pain, and steps that feel manageable. Cheryl draws on practical methods to help people change patterns that keep them stuck and to strengthen connection with others.
Her work blends client-centered care with concrete tools from cognitive behavioral approaches and skills-based strategies. Motivational Interviewing is one tool she uses to help people clarify what matters and find internal motivation for change. Cheryl also incorporates mindfulness and existential ideas to support meaning and presence in daily life.
Across decades of practice she has supported people through parenting challenges, blended family concerns, infidelity, codependency, and recovery from trauma and loss. Her style is direct and compassionate, focused on real-life results rather than theory alone. Cheryl invites people to talk about what they want to change and to take steady steps toward a more authentic life.
She asks prospective clients to describe their goals and concerns so she can tailor an approach that fits their situation and values.
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How Cheryl’s Approaches Work Online
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding your experience without judgment. It helps people feel heard and to discover their own answers to difficult situations. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and offers practical strategies for changing unhelpful patterns. Motivational Interviewing helps people find internal reasons to change and builds small, achievable steps toward goals.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Cheryl will talk with you about your goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't worked before, then suggest methods that match your needs. The plan can change as you learn together and notice what helps most.
Practical benefits of online therapy include greater flexibility to fit sessions into a busy life, easier access when travel is difficult, and the ability to schedule shorter check-ins when needed. The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm the available options before booking to know whether phone or video sessions are offered. Online work can help maintain momentum between appointments and make it simpler to build new habits into daily routines. -
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
AddictionsTrauma and abuseGriefParenting issuesAnger managementSelf esteemBipolar disorderCoping with life changesAdditional focus areas
Blended family issuesCodependencyCommitment issuesCommunication problemsDivorce and separationFamily of origin issuesFamily problemsFatherhood issuesForgivenessGuilt and shameInfidelityIsolation / lonelinessLife purposeMidlife crisisSocial anxiety and phobiaWomen's issuesWorkplace issuesYoung adult issuesTherapeutic approaches
Client-Centered TherapyCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)Existential TherapyMindfulness TherapyMotivational InterviewingSolution-Focused TherapyExperience
30+ years
Listed in
California
Languages
English
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Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns can be addressed here?
Cheryl works with a wide range of issues including stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and intimacy issues, addictions, trauma and grief, parenting and family concerns, anger, self-esteem, bipolar-related challenges, and coping with life changes.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
The approach is client-centered and practical, combining listening and validation with concrete tools from cognitive behavioral methods and motivational techniques to support change.
How much clinical experience does she bring?
She has 30 years of professional counseling experience and has worked with many people navigating relationship struggles, loss, addiction, and life transitions.
What license and location information is available?
She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist - LMFT - practicing in California.
Are sessions available in other languages or internationally?
Sessions are offered in English, and she is not accepting international clients at this time.
What session formats are offered?
Session formats are not specified in the biography; please confirm the current session options before booking so you know whether phone or video is available.
How does billing and cost work?
Cost varies with location and therapist scheduling; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What should I do to start working together?
Select the Start Therapy button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions according to the therapist's availability.
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Online talk therapy is not emergency or medical care. Stopping or cutting down alcohol or other drugs can be unsafe without medical advice. In immediate danger? Crisis numbers