Meet Kristin Martinez
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist who works primarily with Catholic women and couples navigating difficult seasons in their marriages. Many of the clients who come to my practice feel emotionally alone in their relationship, caught in cycles of conflict, or uncertain how to move forward while remaining faithful to their values and commitments.
Marriage is one of the most meaningful and demanding vocations in life. Even strong marriages can experience periods of strain, emotional disconnection, resentment, or misunderstanding. My work is focused on helping individuals and couples better understand the relational patterns that create distance in a marriage and developing the emotional maturity, communication skills, and clarity needed to move toward healing and stability.
My approach integrates sound psychological principles with a deep respect for the Catholic understanding of the human person, marriage, and family life. I believe that therapy can provide a thoughtful and supportive space where people can examine difficult dynamics honestly, grow in self-understanding, and strengthen their capacity for healthier relationships.
Many of the women I work with are carrying significant emotional and spiritual weight within their marriages and families. Together we work toward greater clarity, healthier boundaries, and the emotional strength needed to navigate complex situations while remaining faithful to deeply held beliefs.
I offer counseling through secure telehealth sessions for clients throughout California.
If you are trying to remain faithful to your marriage while also longing for truth, clarity, and emotional healing, you are not alone.
Kristin’s Story
I was raised in the Catholic faith and have been blessed with a lifelong relationship with Christ. That doesn’t mean life has been easy. Like many people, I’ve experienced seasons of deep suffering and confusion—and I’ve also seen how God can bring healing, strength, and clarity over time.
Growing up, I often struggled to feel loved and truly seen. I carried a deep loneliness and a longing for connection that led me into situations that were unsafe and painful. Those early experiences shaped my understanding of relationships, vulnerability, and the deep human need to feel known and valued.
In many ways, the Church became the place where I felt I belonged. I became involved in youth ministry at St. John Vianney in Hacienda Heights, California, and that community was formative for me. Through prayer, discipleship, and a growing interior life, I began to experience the steady love of Christ and the truth of my identity as a daughter of God. For a time, I even discerned a religious vocation.
Years later, I found myself married, raising four children, and facing one of the most difficult decisions of my life: whether to pursue divorce.
My marriage began with love, but over time painful dynamics developed that left me feeling confused, alone, and diminished. I sought therapy hoping for help and guidance. My first experience was discouraging. Within a few sessions I was being guided toward an exit plan and given labels that did not leave room for discernment, complexity, or faith.
I want to say this clearly: there are situations where separation is necessary for safety, and the Church recognizes that reality. At the same time, many Catholic women who seek therapy are not looking for someone to make decisions for them. They are looking for clarity, strength, and wise support as they discern how to respond to what is happening in their marriage while remaining faithful to their values.
In my own journey, I came to a deeper realization: I had slowly lost myself in what I believed “being a good wife” required. I confused love with self-erasure. I confused “turn the other cheek” with avoiding conflict and tolerating behavior that should not be tolerated. While we are called to sacrificial love in marriage, we are not called to accept abuse, to cower in the face of sin, or to abandon the truth.
Healing began when I reclaimed my identity as a daughter of God and learned to live with greater honesty, clarity, and courage. My work in therapy focused on transparency—learning to name what was real, refusing to minimize painful dynamics, and no longer allowing someone else to dictate the narrative of my life.
Over time, something began to change within our marriage. Through prayer, deep personal work, and difficult but honest conversations, healing began to take root. Today, my marriage is in a much healthier place than it once was. That healing did not come quickly, and it did not happen without significant change and accountability. Like any marriage, it continues to require ongoing effort, humility, and growth—both as individuals and as a couple.
My clinical work today is shaped by both professional training and lived experience. I support Catholic women and couples who are navigating difficult seasons in their marriages—especially times marked by emotional disconnection, resentment, recurring conflict, or spiritual confusion. My approach integrates sound psychological principles with respect for the Catholic understanding of the human person, the vocation of marriage, and the dignity of each individual within that vocation.
I offer counseling through secure telehealth sessions for clients throughout California.
California Catholic Counseling 