Dayna Hunt , LMFT

Dayna Hunt is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California with 27 years of professional experience. Born and raised in Marin County in Northern California, she has lived in Southern California and Seattle and spent time traveling across the United States, Europe, and Australia. Her background and travels inform a broad understanding of how life transitions and relationships evolve over time.

She earned a Bachelor of Science from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo and a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Dominican University in San Rafael. Early on she knew she wanted to pursue counseling and has since built a career helping individuals, couples, families, teenagers, and children across private practice, family service agencies, schools, and corporate settings.

Dayna integrates evidence-based approaches into her work, drawing on Dialectical Behavior Therapy to strengthen distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, mindfulness, and emotion regulation skills; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to explore how thoughts shape experience; and a client-centered Rogerian stance that meets people where they are and supports shifts in perspective. She works with a wide range of concerns including stress, anxiety, relationships, family issues, grief, depression, addictions, trauma and abuse, eating concerns, parenting, anger, self-esteem, career challenges, ADHD, and compassion fatigue, as well as related life transitions and blended family or divorce issues. Outside of work she enjoys hiking, spending time in nature, and family activities.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Dayna brings together several practical, skills-based approaches to help clients navigate stress, relationship challenges, mood concerns, trauma, and everyday life changes. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, focuses on building four core skills - mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness - to help people manage intense emotions and improve relationships. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, centers on identifying and testing unhelpful thoughts and beliefs so clients can develop more effective coping strategies and change patterns that fuel anxiety or depression. The client-centered or Rogerian approach emphasizes empathy, active listening, and meeting clients where they are, helping people feel understood while exploring new perspectives and stronger communication.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Dayna works with each person to clarify goals, try evidence-based techniques, and adjust the plan over time so the approach matches the client’s needs, preferences, and life circumstances.

Online therapy offers flexibility for those balancing work, family, or mobility needs. Video sessions allow face-to-face interaction from home, phone sessions provide a simple audio option, and live chat or text-based messaging can support shorter check-ins or ongoing skill practice. These formats make it easier to fit regular therapy into a busy life while preserving continuity of care with licensed professionals and therapists who guide the process.