Meghan Malloy, LMFT, 19712 MacArthur Boulevard, Irvine, CA (2026)

12/23/2025

That’s a wrap on pre-holiday sessions 🎁

Though I’ll be out of the office over the next few weeks, I’ll be thinking of the clients who I hold so dearly.

Around this time of year, I always find myself thinking about their family gatherings, full of people whose names I know but have never seen, their kids, their parents, their close friends. I consider the couples I work with, who will be fighting less on Christmas morning because of the difficult work they’ve done week after week on their relationship. I think about the young women I work with, who will be noticeably more present and engaged with their parents because they’ve been able to let go of some of their wounding through careful, committed self-exploration.

I’m moved by their courage — these clients who sit on my couch. I care for them deeply and feel pride on their behalf for their dedication to healing.

To all the other healers this holiday season, I am grateful to be in community with you and ready to do it all again in the new year. We are lucky to call this beautiful work our job.🤍❄️✨

12/20/2025

Many people who seek therapy begin saying “I can’t talk to anyone about this.” Once safety is created, and there is enough trust with the therapist, they may take the leap to share the thing they’ve been scared for so long to say. In that moment, if the relationship is strong, and the therapist is attuned & responsible, something that’s felt so scary is met with acceptance. It’s held carefully, together, and suddenly it feels like some of its power goes away.

Then, in many instances, someone in therapy will say or think “I can only talk to you (therapist) about this.” Which is a good start. Now, at least there’s one person in the world who can be there with them, through this.

What your therapist may or may not share with you is that one of the *best* moments, the type of moments in therapy that feel transcendent, is when a client dares to let others in on what they’ve been scared to explore in relationships outside of the firmly secure space of therapy.

The goal isn’t that you can open up to your therapist, and that’s it — all you need. The goal is that the type of emotional security you feel with your therapist would also be available to you in the relationships you craft & nurture outside of therapy. Which is often a natural result of the process, if you’re brave enough to go through it 💫

12/19/2025

Fellow therapists: have you ever wished there was a safe, curated space for your individual therapy clients to deepen the work they’re doing on attachment and relationships?

I’m currently recruiting for a small interpersonal process group for young women in their 20s to explore the pain points & joys of friendships, family relationships, and dating. Group is a space where trust is built with the facilitator and it’s safe to practice relating to others in a way that may not yet feel approachable without therapeutic support.

If you are interested in hearing more about the group and whether or not it might be a fit for your client, please feel free to reach out ✉️❤️

657-217-2323

12/19/2025

Fellow therapists: have you ever wished there was a curated, therapeutic space for your clients to deepen the work they’re doing in individual therapy? To take the attachment security they’ve developed with you and expand it to establish trust & belonging with others?

I’m running process groups for young women in their 20s for exactly this reason. It can be hard to break the seal on letting people in to the vulnerable parts of our lives. Having a group facilitator who is responsible for creating & maintaining a therapeutic environment can make the process more approachable.

In these small, supportive, carefully selected groups, we’ll process things like friendship pitfalls, dating, and family dynamics through an attachment-focused lens.

If you think your client could benefit from this kind of complementary support, feel free to share this info with them. If you have any questions about the group’s specs, I’d love to chat. You can always DM me here or text/call at 657-217-2323. 💬✨

12/16/2025

You can’t talk to your friends about it. You want to trust and let people in, but you’re scared to; it hasn’t gone well in the past. You need an intentional, protected, and deeply grounded space to process what’s been weighing on you - your relationships.

Group therapy is a place to be supported & witnessed as you develop. In your early 20s, as you are navigating relationships, identity, and attachment, you may find it hard to know who to turn to. This small, selective interpersonal process group serves young women who feel overwhelmed by family dynamics, love, friend drama, who are deeply committed to healing and seeking to be supported in the process.

If this sounds like you, I would love to chat. You aren’t meant to go at it alone. 🫂

12/15/2025

Many young women I work with are the helpers, the good friends, the ones people lean on. Inside, they’re overwhelmed, overthinking, and unsure where their needs are allowed to land.

If you grew up feeling like you were “too much,” “difficult,” or somehow never quite liked — even by the people who were supposed to love you most — it makes sense that you learned to see yourself as the problem.

Therapy is about helping you see the strengths and goodness that were missed, misunderstood, or never named — and giving you language for what you feel, want, and need.

If this feels familiar and you want to feel more seen, grounded, and connected in your relationships, I offer free 15-minute consultations. Link in bio to book a consult. 🫶🏼

12/14/2025

I recently created a vision board via Canva for 2026. It was fun & easy so I thought I would also host a virtual event specifically for therapists to envision their practice in 2026. 🤍✨

Together, we’ll pause and consider how we want to show up in the next year, as helpers, business owners, and people who care deeply about the clients we work with. We’ll use pictures to represent things like our intentions for self-care, our collaboration with other clinicians, and our overall goals for growth.

We’ll meet virtually on Thursday from 12-2. If you would like to attend, comment below or DM me with your name and I’ll send you the Google Meet info.

12/13/2025

There are many reasons why defensiveness is a favorite topic of mine, but when it comes to couples therapy, the reason is that it often feels like the “third party” in the room.

Defensiveness shows up like an uninvited guest who plants itself right in the middle of the couch. Suddenly this loving, well-meaning couple — who moments ago were simply trying to talk, to get closer, to understand each other better — finds themselves rudely interrupted by this third figure playing psychological monkey-in-the-middle. They’re no longer responding to each other; they’re reacting to its tone, its urgency, its fear, its speed. And in that instant, they lose sight of one another because this third presence has taken over the interaction.

When we begin to see defensiveness as the third party in the room rather than a personal flaw, everything changes. It becomes something to notice, to name, and to understand — a signal pointing to what’s tender and important beneath the surface.

In couples therapy, I help partners acknowledge defensiveness without judgment, explore what it’s trying to protect, and gently set it aside so they can connect with each other. With curiosity and practice, couples can move past reactive patterns, creating space for empathy, trust, and real intimacy. In this way, defensiveness doesn’t have to block closeness — it can actually guide us to it.

12/11/2025

Feeling so happy after a full day of sessions ☺️ Another day of getting to watch people grow. What a gift!

12/10/2025

Relationships are a mirror of our best & worst parts. When safety exists in a relationship, we can allow for this exposure to be a good thing, to show us where we may grow & evolve. When safety does not exist, this intimate level of exposure may be too much for us to handle. To benefit from the interpersonal feedback a relationship provides, partners must be committed in an ongoing manner to tending to their defensiveness & self-protectiveness.

The role of a couples therapist can be to manage this third entity - the defensiveness. In couples therapy, I help you and your partner track when defensiveness is present and get curious about where it’s coming from. In these moments, we slow down until it’s safe to move forward with feedback.

On Friday, I’m publishing a post all about defensiveness. What kind of questions do you have about defensiveness in relationships?

12/08/2025

For some, the holidays are uncomplicated, filled with enthusiasm about gifts under the tree and a calendar packed full of events with friends and family. For others, the holidays come with a more nuanced mixture of happy moments and pain points. Around this time of year, many of us struggle to reconcile what we might be feeling internally with what we feel we are expected to present outwardly.

This holiday season, you may be looking to turn up the joy on full blast. You may just want to survive & get through it. Or, you may be aiming to land somewhere in the middle, in a situation where you preserve the moments filled with happiness, love, and wonder while managing the parts that feel frustrating, sad, or disappointing.

If you find yourself in one of the two latter categories, you may consider exploring ‘coping ahead’ for the holidays with your therapist, a friend, or even just as an exercise on your own. Coping ahead is a skill that comes from DBT (dialectic behavioral therapy) and is used for proactively managing difficult situations. It involves visualizing yourself in challenging circumstances before they happen so you can prepare to handle them as your ideal self would.

And as always, if you’re looking for individualized therapeutic support, you can always reach out at therapywithmeghan.com for a consultation. ❄️

12/05/2025

Have you been to therapy before and felt like the therapist just didn’t “get” you? Maybe they didn’t intently listen to your goals or adapt the experience to your evolving needs.

You and your partner left sessions feeling like “I guess that was a start, but it feels like something is missing. Are we wasting our time and money?”

My approach in working with couples and young women is to tailor the process precisely to your needs.

If you think I could be the right fit to work with you and your partner, yourself, or someone you love, please reach out at therapywithmeghan.com.

From there, we’ll schedule a free consultation to discuss your goals and how I can help you achieve them. 🤍

Meghan Malloy, LMFT

12/23/2025

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12/16/2025

12/15/2025

12/14/2025

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12/05/2025

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