About Monica

Monica Borunda, LMFT, SEP, CCTP

Somatic Experiencing™ Practitioner

California State University, Los Angeles

Monica Borunda is a bilingual, bicultural Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who believes in the power of connection with children and their families to work toward change, healing and thriving. She is also a Somatic Experiencing™ Practitioner, and can assist in supporting growth and restoration after a traumatic event using this body-oriented therapeutic model.

Monica started integrating knowledge of the brain into her clinical practice and her parenting approach almost as soon as she became a parent herself. She knew instinctually something that is now backed by research, that the experiences we share with our children as we raise them are vitally important.  She discovered that the goal is not to be a perfect parent (whatever that means!), but to develop relationships with our kids that are built on connection, safety and love and help them navigate all the stages, feelings, and challenges they encounter throughout childhood. 

Developing a supportive, non-judgmental, and empathic relationship, children are able to work out their big feelings and learn ways to deal with them more effectively. When children gain self-awareness and have more flexible thinking, they are more likely to make good decisions, and will also be more receptive to learning at school through closer connections with family and friends. 

Monica has a passion for working with children and their parents to help them realize the powerful effect that loving attachment can have on both of them alike. In the process, she is also helping them discover how the developing mind and brain work, and how to apply this new-found understanding and perspective to implement shifts in behavior. 

Monica is a bilingual, bicultural child and family therapist who offers a wealth of experience as a parenting consultant and educator. She has spent many years helping parents make sense of their children’s needs and respond more effectively to behavior. She is able to work with parents in both English and Spanish. 

Monica is also an adjunct graduate professor in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at California State University, Los Angeles and she has been educating, supervising, and preparing new clinicians for future practice for the past 15 years. 

In her free time, Monica enjoys hiking, trying out new recipes, traveling, connecting with friends, dancing, and being in nature with her husband and their young daughter.   

LMFT #50267