THERAPY FOR STEPPARENTS IN SAN DIEGO & ACROSS CALIFORNIA
You are holding a role that didn’t come with a map.
You deserve a thoughtful, honest space to sort out your role, steady your relationship, and find some footing in a family structure that rarely gets the support it needs. Blended families take many shapes, including same-sex and LGBTQ+ families, co-parents, and chosen family, and every one of them belongs here.
Stepparenting is real work. It deserves real support.
You stepped into a family that was already in motion — with its own history, its own rhythms, its own grief. You're expected to care deeply and hold back at the same time, to parent without quite being "the parent," to build closeness on someone else's timeline. There's no script for it, and often very little acknowledgment of how much it asks of you.
Leila works with stepparents who want a thoughtful, honest space to sort out their role, steady their relationship, and find some footing in a family structure that rarely gets the support it needs. Her approach draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and the Gottman Method for couples work. Blended families take many shapes — including same-sex and LGBTQ+ families, co-parents, and chosen family — and every one of them is welcome here.
Defining your role — Not the parent, not a bystander. Leila helps you find a role that fits your family and feels sustainable to you, instead of one you're constantly guessing at.
Boundaries, discipline, and loyalty binds — The hardest terrain of step-parenting. Get support for where you fit on discipline, how to hold limits without becoming the villain, and how to navigate kids caught between households.
Your relationship with your partner — Blended-family strain lands hardest on the couple. Gottman Method–informed work to help you parent as a team instead of ending up on opposite sides.
Co-parenting and the other household — Making sense of the ex, the second home, and the parts of your family you don't control — with less reactivity and more steadiness.
Feeling like the outsider — The quiet ache of loving people who aren't sure where to put you yet. Space to name it, and to build belonging at a realistic pace.
LGBTQ+ stepparents and blended families — Affirming therapy for families of every structure. Same-sex partners, queer and trans parents, donor- and surrogacy-built families, and chosen family are understood and welcome — not as an exception, but as part of the work Leila does.
AREAS OF FOCUS
A GROUP FOR STEPPARENTS
No one gets this like someone standing in similar shoes.
Individual work is one path. Sometimes what helps most is a room full of people carrying the same weight. Leila is leading a stepparent support group — a small, confidential space to compare notes, feel less alone, and pick up tools that actually fit blended-family life.
It's a place to say the things you can't always say at home: the resentment, the guilt, the love that doesn't have a name yet. All family structures and identities are welcome, and the group is explicitly LGBTQ+ affirming.
Format: In-person in San Diego and virtual across California
When: [day + time], starting [date]
Group size: capped at 6–8 for intimacy
Cost: [$ per session / per series]
Working with Leila can help you…
Define your role with less guesswork — Land on a version of "stepparent" that fits your family and doesn't run you into the ground.
Set boundaries that hold — With the kids, your partner, and the other household — in ways that reflect what you actually want.
Parent as a team — Get you and your partner on the same side of the problem instead of opposite sides of the room.
Feel less alone in it — Work with a therapist — and, if you want it, a group — who understands the specific weight of this role.
About Leila
Leila Savage is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT #160286) at Common Ground Therapy Group. She provides individual therapy and couples counseling, with particular focus on stepparents, blended families, and midlife transitions. Her approach is genuine, collaborative, affirming, and grounded in evidence-based methods, and she welcomes clients of every identity, relationship structure, and family shape.
Leila Savage, AMFT #160286, is supervised by Melanie Wolf, LMFT #124745.
You can reach Leila at: leila@commongroundtherapygroup.com or by calling 619.736.4442.
Ready to start?
The first step is a free 15-minute consultation — a chance to share what you're hoping to work on and see whether working with Leila feels like the right fit.
FAQs
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Yes — this is central to how Leila works. Same-sex partners, queer and trans stepparents, donor- and surrogacy-built families, and chosen family are welcomed and understood. Affirming care isn't an add-on here; it's the baseline.
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That's one of the most common places to start. Figuring out where you fit — with the kids, your partner, and the other household — is exactly the kind of work Leila does, and there's no "right" answer you're supposed to already have.
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Whatever fits. Some people want one-on-one work, some want the shared experience of the group, and some do both. Leila can help you sort out what makes sense in your free consultation.
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That's okay. A lot of meaningful stepparent work happens in individual therapy — clarifying your role, steadying yourself, and shifting the dynamic from your side. Couples work is available if and when you both want it.
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Yes — Leila sees clients in person in Mission Valley, San Diego, and via telehealth throughout California.
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Leila is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, which means she has completed her graduate training and is accruing her clinical hours for full licensure under a clinical supervisor. Clients receive the same thoughtful, structured care, with the added benefit of two clinical perspectives supporting their work.
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Sessions with Leila are $150 for individuals and $170 for couples/families. Group fees vary per group. Please reach out for specifics.
Common Ground Therapy Group is a private-pay practice — we don't bill insurance, but we can provide a superbill for clients who wish to seek out-of-network reimbursement. A Good Faith Estimate is available before you begin. -
It's a relaxed 15-minute phone call. You'll share a bit about what brings you to therapy and what you're hoping for, Leila will describe how she works, and you'll both get a feel for whether it's a good fit. There's no obligation to continue.