Member Highlight — Shelley Horner, MFT

Steven Caraco, LMFT

Steven Caraco, LMFT, knew from an early age that he wanted to be a therapist. “I was born to be a psychotherapist,” Steven states with enthusiasm. During elementary school Steven was put into psychoanalysis for acting out in school, and this experience deeply affected him. He realized that understanding how the mind works is fascinating and important.

Steven graduated from Phillips Graduate Institute with a Master’s degree in 1997. He and his first wife studied there at the same time and often were the “guinea pigs” for experiential couple’s work. Steven gained the love of helping couples from this process and the experience of his 25-year marriage.

Steven earned his Marriage & Family Therapist License in 2001. He has worked with children with emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders, led men’s process groups, and now has a marriage and family private practice. He works with individuals and families as well as couples.

“Watching someone wake up is so beautiful,” Steven states. Witnessing his clients transform their lives is a process Steven cherishes. Being empathic and curious about how clients experience their lives is crucial to being a good therapist according to Steven. He cautions us to be careful of leading or making assumptions. Steven says it’s important to let the client tell their reality and let them lead. He particularly likes helping clients using object relations and narrative therapy. Steven’s ability and insight as a therapist blends well with his other career as a mediator in the business world.

He learned accounting as a practical career to support himself as a young adult. Later, he added being a therapist to his repertoire. Steven has been in Corporate America for 35 years and has been an Executive or Principal since 1998, including CFO at a division of a fortune 500 company (Dreyfus – Mellon Bank). His work in Human Resources, Finance and Operations has given him unique insight and perspective into the workings of a corporation. Blending his experience as Psychotherapist and Executive has lent itself well to corporate mediation. He has been involved with several industries including Entertainment, Health, Finance, Real Estate, Tax Resolution, Addiction Recovery and more. Steven considers himself to be lucky since he currently balances his left and right brain by working in both fields.

Steven sees clients in his Encino office. If you’d like more information you can call him at 818.378.3638 or visit his websitehttp://www.stevencaraco.com/.

Shelley Horner, LMFT enjoys writing the our Member Profile section since she likes getting to know her colleagues in depth. She is an actress, speaker and therapist.

Shelley has had a private practice for more than twenty years. She assists adults, children, and teens as well as facilitates parent groups in her office in Calabasas. She also does consultation and training of employees through Employee Assistance Programs at various organizations and colleges.