(805) 244-8489
Therapy for Daughters of Emotionally Unavailable Mothers
Heal the patterns you inherited and create emotionally safe relationships in your own family.
You love your children deeply
But sometimes your reactions surprise you.
A sharp tone you didn't intend.
A wave of overwhelm during conflict.
A feeling of shutting down when emotions run high.
Why did that moment feel so strong?
Later you may find yourself wondering...
Why did that moment feel so intense?
Many women who find their way to my practice carry a quiet pain:
They fear repeating the same emotional patterns they experienced growing up.
If you were raised by an emotionally unavailable mother, these reactions are not unusual.
The emotional patterns we learned in childhood often continue shaping how we mother, experience relationships, boundaries, and conflicts as adults.
Therapy can help you understand those patterns and begin creating something different for the next generation.
When Early Relationships Shape Adult Life
Growing up with an emotionally unavailable mother often leaves a subtle but powerful imprint on how relationships feel.
Many women notice patterns such as:
Feeling responsible for everyone's emotions
Becoming overwhelmed during conflict
Struggling with guilt when setting boundaries
Overthinking interactions with loved ones or at work
Worrying about repeating the same emotional patterns with their own children.
These responses are not personal flaws.
They are emotional survival strategies formed in early relationships.
With thoughtful therapeutic work, the patterns can evolve.
Therapy That Goes Beneath the Surface
Many clients initially come to therapy hoping to reduce anxiety, depression, emotional overwhelm, or relationship tension.
But what they often discover is something deeper.
Therapy offers an opportunity to understand the emotional blueprint shaped in early relationships and begin developing new ways of responding to life's challenges.
Overtime, these women begin to experience:
Greater emotional steadiness during difficult moments
Clearer boundaries and communication
Calmer interactions with their children
Stronger self-trust in relationships
Relief from long-standing shame or self-doubt
The goal is not perfection.
The goal is freedom fromm patterns that no longer serve you.
Meet Amelia
Amelia Mora Mars, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapist
Board Chair, Childhood Matters
Mom of 10
I specialize in working with daughters of emotionally unavailable mothers who want to understand the deeper roots of their emotional patterns and build healthier relationships in their own families.
My interest in this work began long before I became a therapist.
I never had the opportunity to meet my Abuelita. I came to know her through the stories passed down in my family, stories of the pain she carried and the fear her children sometimes felt around her.
As I grew older, I became curious about how emotional wounds can quietly move through generations, shaping how love, safety, and connection are experienced within a family.
Those early reflections stayed with me.
They eventually led me to study the ways attachment, trauma, and family relationships influence emotional patterns across generations.
Today, I help women understand how the emotional dynamics they experienced growing up continue to influence their relationships as adults, and how those patterns can change.
When this work begins to take hold, clients experience something they have been longing for:
A deeper sense of emotional steadiness, clarity, and safety in their relationships.
My Approach
Therapy unfolds in several phases:
Understanding the Pattern
We explore how early attachment experiences shaped emotional responses and relationship dynamics.
Building Emotional Stability
Clients develop stronger emotinal regulation and begin responding to difficult moments with greater calm and clarity.
Creating New Relationship Patterns
Over time, clients begin interacting differently with partners, children, and family members and feel more grounded in their relationships.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
When Talk Therapy & Medication Isn’t Enough—KAP Meets You Where You Are
For some clients, the emotional patterns formed in early relationships can be difficult to shift through traditional talk therapy alone.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can support the therapeutic process by creating a temporary window of increased neuroplasticity, allowing the brain to form new emotional pathways and perspectives.
While my practice specializes in working with women, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is available for both men and women and couples who are seeking deeper therapeutic work.
My work integrates ketamine therapy through a structured approach called The Ketamine Layering Effect™.
Rather than treating ketamine as a single breakthrough experience, this method intentionally builds change over time. Research and clinical practice suggest that a series of six sessions is often considered the gold standard, as each experience helps reinforce new neural pathways and emotional insights.
Each layer builds on the previous one so that insights from the experience translate into lasting emotional change rather than temporary breakthroughs.
Preparation sessions to clarify intentions and emotional themes
Ketamine-assisted experiences conducted in a safe, supportive setting
Integration sessions to translate insights into meaning into meaningful life changes
By combining the neuroplastic effects of ketamine with thoughtful integration, clients are often able to access and reshape patterns that have felt stuck for years.
Ketamine-assited psychotherapy for men, women, and couples
Services
Ketamine Therapy
Therapy for Women
Therapy for Moms
Faith-Based Therapy
Pre-Marital Counseling
Client Experiences
"I have found joy in living, which I still consider unreal sometimes."
I was severely depressed and chronically anxious. I tried a variety of alternatives, and I didn’t seem to be able to get out of the desperate state of trauma and sadness that I was in. I felt at the end of my rope. After a decade of suffering with several mental health issues, I feel now I can handle the ups and downs of life without the extreme reaction that I used to have.
It makes a huge difference to have a therapist like Amelia, who understands trauma and is compassionate and knowledgeable about this new and rewarding treatment.
I have found joy in living, which I still consider unreal sometimes.
LS, Travel Writer
Blogs
What Is Ketamine‑Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?
What Is Ketamine‑Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?
A new path to healing that honors your story
For some women, talk therapy opens doors.
For others, those doors stay shut no matter how hard they try.
That’s where Ketamine‑Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) can help.
It’s not a magic fix or a quick escape.
It’s a supported process, a way to soften the armor, loosen old patterns, and reconnect with parts of you that have been hidden or hurting for a long time.
So, What Is KAP?
Ketamine‑Assisted Psychotherapy is a therapeutic approach that combines a safe, low dose of ketamine with guided therapy.
In a calm, supportive environment, ketamine can create a shift in your usual mental patterns, helping you explore your emotions, thoughts, and memories from a new angle.
With the right support, that shift can lead to real insight. Real relief.
Real healing.
What Might You Feel?
Every experience is unique.
You may feel more open, more tender, or gently dissociated.
Some women describe feeling like they’ve stepped outside their usual “story” and can see things with clarity and compassion for the first time.
This is where therapy comes in.
A skilled, compassionate therapist walks beside you to help you understand what comes up, stay grounded, and carry what you’ve learned back into your daily life.
Why Consider KAP?
KAP may be helpful if you:
Feel stuck in old emotional patterns, despite doing “the work”
Struggle with anxiety, depression, suicidal, or trauma responses
Have a hard time accessing or trusting your emotions
Want to explore healing in a more embodied, expanded way
KAP isn’t just about “feeling better.”
It’s about feeling more like yourself with curiosity, courage, and care.
What Makes This Different?
Many of my clients men and women who’ve carried emotional burdens for decades, especially those raised by emotionally unavailable, critical, or absent mothers.
KAP can help you:
Connect to your inner child with compassion
Release patterns rooted in early emotional neglect
Create space for softness, self-trust, and re-parenting
Gently shift the story you’ve carried about who you are
Is This Right for You?
This work is not about fixing you.
It's about coming home and becoming.
If you’re curious, I invite you to explore this next step.
You’ll be held, prepared, supported, and never rushed.
Our partners
In-network with Gold Coast Health Plan and Optum for talk therapy
2660 Townsgate, Suite 450, Westlake Village CA 91361
(805) 244-8489
© 2026 | Privacy Policy
