You’re NOT Stuck.
You’re Running a Pattern You Can’t See.
Psychotherapy in Newport Beach for high-achieving, intellectually curious adults facing high-functioning anxiety, burnout, ADHD, and perfectionism — using a trauma-informed, depth-oriented approach beyond surface-level coping.
You Don’t Need More Advice
You Need to Understand How Your Brain Is Operating
Most people don’t understand their patterns.
They’ve read the books, learned the language, and can explain what they’re doing—yet still find themselves repeating the same cycles.
Because knowing the words isn’t the same as understanding what’s driving the behavior. And until that’s clear, nothing changes.
What is Analytical Psychotherapy?
Looking Beyond What You Feel to Understand the Root of It
Understanding What is Driving You
Most approaches focus on the experience itself—feeling anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed—and try to reduce it.
Analytical psychotherapy goes further.
Instead of stopping at what you feel, we look at what’s driving it.
Because depression, anxiety, and burnout aren’t random.
They’re patterns.
And when you understand those patterns, you’re no longer stuck reacting to them.
You can transform and integrate them.
Who is Analytical Psychotherapy For?
You think analytically. You process deeply.
You have the ideas, but you can’t seem to start
You show up, you perform, you deliver, and still wonder if you’re good enough and feel empty despite your success
They keep telling you it’s ADHD, but something about that label never quite fits
You can rationalize your way through your anxiety and depression, and feel like you’re falling apart on the inside
You’ve been told to try medication, but something in you resists that
You’ve sat in therapy before, and left with more questions than answers
People have called you too sensitive, too intense, too much, too difficult
You’re the lone wolf in a crowded room, surrounded by people, understood by few
You sabotage yourself right when things start going well
You’re exhausted from being the one who holds everything together
Your emotions spike without warning, and you don’t know why
You’ve heard the podcasts, seen the social media posts, learned the language, and yet you’re wondering why it’s not working for you
You have a creative world inside you that you can’t seem to access or express
You know your emotions and reactions are affecting the people closest to you — and you don’t know how to stop it
Our Approach
No two people process in the same way.
This work is designed around how your mind operates—so the approach is tailored, not applied.
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Most people can describe what they feel—but don’t fully understand it.
Not because they lack awareness, but because the root isn’t always visible.
Through a tailored, analytical approach, we identify the underlying patterns shaping your emotions, your reactions, and how your mind operates.
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Your patterns aren’t random.
They’re shaped by your personality, your experiences, and the environment you’ve adapted to.
We look at your life as a whole—how your mind processes, responds, and makes sense of what you’ve been through—so the work is precise and tailored to you.
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When an experience feels too overwhelming, your mind adapts.
Patterns form to manage what it couldn’t fully process.
Analytical Psychotherapy strengthens your capacity to hold those experiences—so you’re no longer overwhelmed by what you feel, and those patterns no longer need to repeat.
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You’re not starting from zero.
There’s a part of you that adapted, endured, and got you to this point.
We identify that strength and build on it—expanding your capacity and adding new ways of processing—so you’re no longer relying on the same patterns to get through.
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While you speak, we are listening to more than your words — the tone, the pauses, the moments where your body says something your mouth doesn’t. This is why we only work in person or virtually, never by phone. So much of what needs to be understood lives beyond what you say.
Every session looks different. Some are deeply conversational. Others are slower — helping you find language for things you have never been able to name.
The goal is not to give you answers. The goal is to give you a mirror.
And what happens after the session matters just as much as what happens inside it.
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The approach is never one-size-fits-all. Depending on what you bring into the room, we draw from:
∙ Psychodynamic & Psychoanalytic therapy — understanding the unconscious processes driving your behavior
∙ Jungian psychology — exploring the deeper architecture of the self
∙ Trauma-informed care — recognizing how past experiences shape present responses
∙ EMDR — processing what the mind hasn’t been able to fully integrate
∙ Adlerian therapy — understanding how your early experiences shaped your sense of self and belonging
∙ Existential therapy — examining meaning, identity, and the questions underneath the anxiety
∙ Positive psychology — identifying and building on what is already working within you
What makes this work different is not just the modalities — it’s the 20 years of understanding human behavior, personality, and unconscious decision-making that shape how they are applied.
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Developed by Mastaneh Lashkari, the Capacity Method is a depth-oriented approach that combines trauma-informed therapy, EMDR, Reiki, and hypnosis to help clients face and integrate trauma at a level that traditional therapy alone cannot reach.
What Makes Analytical Psychotherapy at The Psychology Projects Different
Treatment tailored for YOU—not applied as a fixed formula.
Medication-free approach
Not just treating symptoms, but treating the structure
20 years of understanding human behavior through pharmaceutical sales and marketing
The Capacity Method, original methodology
Clinical Case Conceptualization for other therapists
Psychodynamic AND analytical, not just CBT or DBT
Reading body language, tone, and what’s not being said
Sessions are not one size fits all, tailored, not applied
95% retention rate
82% medication reduction rate
94% career transitions
Before you Begin
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No. And this is intentional.
After a decade in pharmaceutical sales, our founder saw firsthand how quickly medication becomes the first answer rather than the last resort. Our philosophy is rooted in the belief that the body has its own intelligence — a built-in system designed to protect and correct itself.
Our goal is not to suppress what you feel. It is to understand why you feel it. Many of our clients come to us on medication and work toward reducing or eliminating it entirely — not because medication is always wrong, but because the root driving the need for it can often be resolved through depth-oriented work.
82% of our clients have reduced or eliminated medication through our work together.
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No honest therapist can give you a number — and we won’t.
Approaches like CBT and DBT work within insurance-approved timelines of 6 to 12 months because they focus on symptoms. We focus on the root. And the root takes the time it takes.
What we can tell you is this: our goal is never to make you dependent on therapy. Whatever we build together, you take with you. If you choose to stop after 3 months, you leave with tools, clarity, and capacity that belong to you.
Many of our clients choose to stay long-term — not because they still struggle with anxiety or depression, but because the work has become a system for growth, goal attainment, and continued expansion. We meet you where you are, and we move at the pace that serves you.
The only honest answer to “how long” is: as long as it takes to build something that lasts.
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Both. We offer in-person sessions in Newport Beach, CA, and virtual sessions for residents throughout California.
Virtual therapy at The Psychology Projects is not a lesser version of in-person work. We have a specific system in place to ensure the same depth, presence, and quality of observation in every virtual session — details of which will be shared with you after your consultation.
Please note: virtual psychotherapy sessions are available to California residents only.
If you are located outside of California and are interested in analytical work, we invite you to explore our Executive Coaching and Career Consultation services — available nationwide.
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We do not accept insurance directly. This is intentional — insurance-based therapy requires diagnoses, limits session frequency, and dictates treatment timelines. Our work cannot be confined to those parameters.
We do, however, provide Superbills upon request. A Superbill is an itemized receipt of your sessions that you can submit directly to your insurance provider for potential reimbursement. Depending on your out-of-network benefits, your insurance may reimburse a portion of your session cost. We recommend contacting your insurance provider to understand your out-of-network mental health benefits before your first session.
We offer a sliding scale ranging from $185 to $350 per session. The investment reflects the depth and complexity of the work — a client navigating feelings of inadequacy requires a different level of research, analysis, and treatment planning than a client working through severe or complex trauma. Every treatment plan is built specifically for you.
We believe the right person will find a way to make this work. If cost is a concern, we encourage you to reach out — we will always do our best to find a structure that works.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Process
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We begin by developing a full picture of how you function emotionally, psychologically, and relationally. This includes looking at current struggles, personal history, relational patterns, emotional responses, defenses, and the deeper dynamics that may be shaping what you’re experiencing. The goal is not to label you quickly, but to understand you accurately.
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Treatment is not limited to one rigid method. Depending on your needs, the work may draw from psychodynamic, trauma-informed, insight-oriented, and practical interventions. The purpose is to address both the root of the problem and how it is showing up in your daily life.
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Therapy is a collaborative process. We work together to understand what you are experiencing, identify what may be driving it, and create a treatment direction that is both thoughtful and specific to you. This is not a one-size-fits-all model, and it is not a passive process.
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Treatment is designed to create meaningful and lasting change over time. As the work develops, the focus remains on strengthening insight, increasing emotional capacity, and helping you build a more stable way of understanding and responding to yourself and your life.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Most therapy focuses on what you feel and how to manage it. Analytical psychotherapy goes further — we focus on what is driving what you feel. The goal is not symptom management. It is a structural understanding. We are not here to help you cope better with anxiety. We are here to understand why the anxiety exists and resolve it at the root.
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CBT asks: what is the thought, what is the behavior, and how can we change it? DBT adds mindfulness to that framework. Both are evidence-based, insurance-approved, and effective for short-term symptom reduction — typically within 6 to 12 months.
What they don’t do is go deeper. They work at the level of the thought and the behavior — not the emotional history, the unconscious narrative, or the structural reason those thoughts and behaviors keep returning. Analytical psychotherapy addresses what CBT and DBT were never designed to reach.
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No referral is needed. You do however need to begin with a consultation — not as a formality, but because fit matters. If, after our consultation, we don’t feel this is the right match for you, we have an extensive referral network and will connect you with someone who is.
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You’ve come to the right place. The majority of our clients have sat in therapy offices before and left feeling unheard, misdiagnosed, or like something fundamental never moved. That experience is exactly why The Psychology Projects was built — to offer something that goes beyond what standard therapy has been able to provide. Your previous experience is not a barrier. It is information we will work with.
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There is no need to. Analytical psychotherapy at The Psychology Projects already incorporates the depth of understanding that executive coaching addresses. The work we do in therapy naturally extends into your professional life, your leadership, your decision-making, and your goals. You do not need both — you need the right one done deeply.
Client Reviews
“Working with Masti has helped me see myself more clearly. She helped me recognize my true essence and taught me ways to overcome my inner struggles. She opened my eyes to the importance of self-control — rather than overthinking, I now consider potential solutions with a clearer mind.”
-Medical Student“For over a year and a half, these sessions have provided me with insights, conviction, and authenticity. A grounding force during highly tumultuous times — and a genuine challenge for personal growth along the way.”
— Tech Startup Founder“She didn’t allow me to get what I was craving — an easy solution, a magical word, a medication to make the difficult feelings go away. She held a mirror for me to face the parts of me that no longer served me. She creates the path for you to find yourself again.”
— Primary Care