Dr. Sahar Martinez, LMFT

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United States
Irvine, CA
Dr. Sahar Martinez, LMFT

Helping individuals, couples and families through transitional phases of life. Specializing in maternal mental health, couples, and women's wellness.

03/20/2026

Spring equinox lovenotes 🪻✨🤍 take what you need

03/18/2026

That’s it. That’s the post.

03/14/2026

Six years ago the world shut down and what I thought would be 2 weeks of sheltering in place turned into months of just the four of us. We eventually podded with my sister and parents in the summer of 2020, but looking back on these photos is a reminder of what we endured in those early days.

For me, it was a mix of savoring every moment with my babies and husband, Zoom dates with friends and family, trying new recipes, so many crafts, care packages, group texts organizing grocery runs, panic attacks, drive thru birthdays, constant fear, locking in on writing my dissertation, lots of watching through the window and trying to find the beauty where ever we could while we tried to create joy for our boys.

03/09/2026

Been a minute since I’ve dropped some love notes (because what in the actual f**k, 2026?!) 💌 take what you need ✨

03/03/2026

I used to think I was perpetually in a burnout cycle.

But if I’m honest, I wasn’t collapsing.
I was still delivering. Still holding everything together.

What I eventually realized was something else entirely:

I had quietly become the default nervous system in too many areas of my life.

The one who absorbs tension.
The one who anticipates needs.
The one who keeps the emotional temperature steady when things start to escalate.

Over time, I started noticing patterns in the women around me too.

Four roles we slip into without even realizing it.

To be clear, none of these are diagnoses. They’re simply patterns many of us move through when we’ve spent years holding more than our share.

I’m curious, do any of these resonate for you? I’m landing in the quiet rebel, but have definitely had my seasons in each of these archetypes.

Read the full essay over on substack 🤍

03/02/2026

Our new besties .door photographed our team at our annual Process Day. What an incredible reminder of the magical helpers, healers and deep feelers I get to walk alongside every day. Grateful to these women for the ways in which they show up every single day.

My favorite part of our annual gathering? Getting a whole day to hang with our team and their loved ones (aka babypalooza!).

In a time where things feel particularly dark, I’m grateful to these folks for being the light ✨

(swipe to the end if you’re curious about the aura of two kids that have been in love for 20+ years 😻)

02/01/2026

this & accountability.

01/26/2026

There’s something I need to name — with care and clarity.

If you are a therapist with a platform and you’ve been silent while families are being torn apart, while ICE raids escalate, while fear is being normalized under the banner of “policy;”I want to lovingly but firmly ask: why?

I know the stories we tell ourselves.
“I don’t want to alienate clients.”
“I’m not a political account.”
“I do my advocacy quietly.”

But neutrality has never been neutral — especially in moments like this.

We are trained to understand trauma, attachment, nervous systems, and power. We know what chronic fear does to the body. We know what state-sanctioned harm looks like. We know that silence does not protect the most vulnerable; it protects comfort.

You don’t need to have the perfect language.
You don’t need to be an expert in immigration law.
You don’t need to post every day.

But if your work is rooted in healing, justice, and dignity, this moment asks something of us.

Even one post.
Even one resource.
Even one clear sentence that says: this is not okay.

This is me calling you in, not to perform, but to show up

01/25/2026

The both/and is a space that I live in perpetually, as we all do, but something about the duality of this season hits different. There is a violent shift in the in between and the whiplash is unbearable. What I’m learning is this: Micro joys are how I stay regulated; macro grief is what I refuse to bypass. I’m holding both.

The world feels impossible and still I am grateful to be alive everyday.
Another murder in Minnesota and my Khaleh finally made it out of Iran.
A soul nourishing conversation on the drive to work and having an unexpected conversation about ICE with my children.
Collective rage hand in hand with collective gratitude and joy. Both/And.

It’s strange to hold both at once — the joy that fills my cup and the rage that drains it.

But this is the human heart: expansive enough for celebration and for mourning, even when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or downright hard.

Here’s to loving deeply, standing for justice, and choosing presence — in grief and in joy. Here’s to keeping the glimmers in sight and celebrating them alongside our grief.

Most of all, F**K ICE.

01/19/2026

I didn’t expect stopping HRT to affect my mental health the way it did. Within days, my nervous system felt destabilized in a way that was both terrifying and strangely familiar, like being transported back to a version of myself I worked very hard to heal.

I wrote about what happened, not as medical advice, but as lived experience. Because hormones can hijack mental health in ways we are not warned about, and because too many women end up blaming themselves when their bodies are actually asking for care.

If this resonates, the full essay is on Substack. Read with care 🤍

12/05/2025

Shout out to Mr. Campbell. Hope you’re doing well, my guy.

Signed,
Dr. Sahar Martinez, Psy.D, LMFT, PMH-C

Address

Irvine, CA
92612

Website

http://www.saharmartinez.com/

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