Larissa Leiss grew up in the Bay Area and Reno and didn’t take a straight-line path into social work. She started her career in Interior Design, where she became interested in how our surroundings impact mental health and healing, even writing her thesis on how design can support emotional well-being. After spending a few years in the design world, Larissa realized she wanted work that felt more meaningful and decided to make the shift into social work, earning her graduate degree at the University of Nevada, Reno.
During graduate school, Larissa completed internships at Catholic Charities and Reno Behavioral Health Hospital. There, she worked with individuals experiencing homelessness and supported clients in both acute psychiatric and adolescent boys units. These experiences helped shape her down-to-earth, compassionate approach and reinforced her belief in meeting people where they are.
Larissa uses evidence-based DBT skills alongside a strong understanding of neurodiversity to create a supportive, personalized therapy experience. She focuses on emotional regulation, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance, often using creative tools like video games to make learning skills feel more natural and engaging. Outside of work, Larissa enjoys reading, baking, hanging out with her family and two dogs, catching baseball games in San Francisco, enjoying time at Disneyland, and never turning down a good cup of coffee.