Mary Starks

Pyschotherapist

Mary Starks MA, LPCC has an enduring interest in the intersection between early relationships, trauma and adult personality. Following graduation from Gonzaga University, Mary Starks worked in Seattle, WA as a Forensic Mental Health Clinician assessing mentally ill criminal offenders. At the same time, she was Psychology Director of the boutique matchmaking company, Guys and Girls Next Door and designed the assessment process for those experiencing struggle in obtaining a long term relationship. These experiences led her to complete the Infant and Family Clinical Practice program at the Harris Institute in Phoenix, Arizona through Southwest Human Development. Here she worked as Mental Health Consultant for the Federal Program Head Start where she received the Most Outstanding Community Involved Award. She also has experience working with children and families who experienced severe trauma as a child therapist at the Good Fit Clinic and working with the juvenile court system in helping judges making well informed decisios about placement in the best interest of the child. She was an active member of the Arizona Psychoanalytic Society and served as a Event and Salon Coordinator here until her love of moderate sunshine and cinema brought her to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles she works in private practice specializing in adults working in often complicated and fraught power dynamics within the film industry and adults seeking to understand how childhood trauma has impacted their adult relationships. As a mental health coordinator, Starks helps the film cast and crew maintain productivity and high level performance through sensitive content, providing emotional support, script analysis and and consultation for accurate portrayal of mental health issues.