Olivia Russak is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Los Angeles. She began her career in clinical research, first as an undergraduate at CU Boulder investigating youth at high risk for psychosis, then for four years at UCLA’s Depression Grand Challenge, conducting diagnostic interviews and cognitive testing for studies on treatment-resistant depression.
After completing her MFT at USC, Olivia moved into direct care as an intensive FSP therapist at The Guidance Center in Long Beach, providing high-acuity services to youth and families affected by parental substance use, CPS involvement, and inpatient-to-outpatient transitions, including 24-hour on-call crisis coverage. She has since maintained outpatient private practice across multiple settings, including CB Psychological, where she works with adults navigating complex trauma, narcissistic abuse recovery, and addiction, and CARE-LA, a CBT-based child anxiety clinic where she gained experience in Exposure and Response Prevention. At CARE, Olivia primarily works with LGBTQ+ teenagers and young adults navigating executive functioning issues, anxiety, perfectionism and depression. Olivia has extensive couples therapy experience in both settings and integrates parenting and family therapy in her adolescent cases when indicated.
Olivia’s style is warm but direct, and relational at its core. Within a process-oriented style, she draws strongly on evidence-based approaches, integrating cognitive, behavioral, and somatic skills to help clients build capacity alongside insight.
Olivia holds a Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician credential through Dr. Ramani Durvasula’s program and is completing Janina Fisher’s advanced complex trauma certification. She works from a trauma-informed, anti-racist, LGBTQ+ and non-monogamy affirming perspective.