Leslie Mongelluzzi
My journey in this field of personal growth dates back to 1987, when I moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Orange County, California. It was here that I began my process of soul searching, opening up to the many avenues of learning about oneself. I recognized early on how very fortunate I was to have landed in Southern California, particularly at a time when many significant authors and clinicians in the field were developing and teaching their methods.
I had the privilege of working at the Claudia Black Treatment Center, gaining a rich experience in working with groups, understanding early childhood trauma, co-dependency, family dynamics and addictions. I received my certification in Psychodrama at the Camelback Hospital Western Institute studying directly with Dr. Elaine Eller Goldman.
I have always been drawn to studying how the body, mind, and soul need to express itself. My belief is that if we ignore the mind, body, and soul or simply focus on one over the other, “we can get stuck”. We end up no longer living in a state of aliveness because we are numbing, squashing, and disconnecting from the “whole self”.
My studies at the Bioenergetics Institute in Costa Mesa and the International Institute of Objects Relations Therapy, with David and Jill Scharff, has solidified for me that the body keeps the score; attachment is a thing, we can learn a lot about ourselves through paying attention to the sensations in our body and how we do relationships.
PSYCHOtherapist
My roots in understanding relationships and couples stems back to my first IMAGO workshop led by Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt back in 1993. What I love most about their work is the emphasis put on “Presence”, recognizing the sensations in the body, and how to open up to your partner in a meaningful way through “Intentional Dialogue”.
The last 30 years of my practice has focused on relationships and teaching clients how to use healthy communication, deepen their connection and hold the space that sits between the couple with meaning.
For myself and my clients, I have used much of the work from Positive Psychology and Coaching for Mindset to achieve “living with intention”. My mission statement has consistently been “to live with presence and come from love.”
Leslie lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband and three sons. She is licensed to practice psychotherapy in both California and Ohio.
deepen your relationship
Why choose to work with Leslie?
I believe most of my clients choose me because of my experience, training and length of time I have been practicing. I have been a licensed psychotherapist since 1990 specializing in Couples therapy and Women's issues.
I have dedicated my work to understanding how emotions can be used to deepen the connection or create distance due to not understanding how to self-regulate their emotions.
What makes me unique, is my ability to hold the space for the depth of emotions and teaching clients how to do that for themselves and their loved ones. Much of my work is based in the belief that our emotions are often misunderstood and can drive conversations in directions that seem destructive and hurtful, resulting in walls that can't seem to be torn down.