I’m Marlena Stanford, a mental health therapist licensed in Arizona and Ohio. I help folks overcome mental health challenges and create lives of resilience and meaning.
I’m currently accepting new clients at the group practice where I work, The Game Changer Group. Request an appointment here.
Are you "stuck" in mental, emotional, or behavioral patterns that have become unworkable? You can get back to living your best life, however you define it.
You’re ready to feel better and live a fuller life right now. You’re tired of feeling bad—whether it’s from depression, panic attacks, mood swings, or anxiety creeping into seemingly every corner of your life. It’s natural to want to eliminate or avoid the things that bring you distress, especially when life is stressful enough. But there’s a paradox: avoiding our problems often keeps us locked in them. The good news is that healing doesn’t mean you have to confront everything head-on or all at once. It’s a gradual process, guided by what feels manageable for you.
That’s where I come in. I specialize in creating customized treatment plans and carrying out therapeutic interventions for tweens (10+), teens, and adults to get unstuck from even the stickiest mental health problems, especially related to depression and related mood disorders, as well as panic attacks and other very intense patterns of anxiety.
Together, we’ll uncover what no longer serves you and build new skills that help you navigate life’s challenges. The journey isn’t about forcing yourself to face everything at once; it’s about learning to approach your struggles with curiosity and compassion, one step at a time. No matter why you’re seeking relief, I’ll help you find a path forward that works for you.
We’ll go beyond just talking about your challenges. Together, we’ll identify what truly matters to you—what makes life meaningful—and use that as a foundation for change. When you get the guts to focus on what you really want to live for, psychological pain and distress start to take a backseat. Through evidence-based interventions tailored to your goals, we’ll work toward creating your best life, one courageous step at a time.
My populations and areas of focus:
Tweens, 10-12
Teens, 13-17
Adults, 18-65
Older Adults, 65+
Isolation, Loneliness &
Social Anxiety Therapy
Depression
Therapy
Panic Disorder
Therapy
Intrusive thoughts
& OCD Therapy
Make an appointment:
The Game Changer Group booking site
Image created with Magic Studio’s AI Art Generator
“It all starts with self-reflection. And then you have to be brave.”
About Me
My Background
Becoming a psychotherapist has been a natural progression of both my professional and personal journey.
Professionally, I spent over ten years as a tenured community college professor teaching writing, literature, and cultural studies. While it was a productive and meaningful career, I realized over time I was called to do something different. In 2022, I took a leap and pursued a graduate degree in mental health social work. My years in academia prepared me well for the intellectual rigor of psychotherapy, emphasizing the importance of using quality research to guide my practice.
Personally, I began having debilitating panic attacks and symptoms of OCD in late childhood, though I did not understand myself as a person with OCD until my late 30s despite having received therapy services from a variety of providers for over fifteen years. My personal experience with a stubborn mental health challenge and misdiagnoses deeply shaped my perspective and informs my clinical work today. I take great care in conducting comprehensive assessments of my clients’ histories, symptoms, and current life contexts to get a good picture of their mental health concerns and develop treatment plans that actually work. I also see the value in striving for early intervention whenever possible, as well as starting therapy services earlier in life in order to gain insight and skills that will be useful throughout the lifespan.
My Approach
I used evidence-based interventions that have shown strong results in research studies. With a healthy dose of humility, I regularly reflect on my clients’ progress and my own limitations, staying attuned to where the gaps are that we might need to address. While therapy is science-based, it is also a healing modality grounded in compassion and a strong therapeutic relationship. I approach this work with an open heart and take joy in sharing in the vitality and resilience my clients bring to the process.
I believe that part of my role as a therapist is to get out of your life as soon as you are ready; for this reason, I generally practice short or medium-term therapeutic approaches. Most of my clients notice positive change in 10-12 sessions, but we can set goals for more or less sessions based on your needs.
I often use acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and solution-focused interventions, as well as exposure-based interventions (ERP) for OCD and anxiety-related disorders. While I value all insights my clients gain during therapy, I aim to go beyond conversation by creating experiential moments during sessions. These experiences help clients take what they’ve learned and practiced in therapy out into their lives, so they can see real change where it matters most. Really, I strive to do what works, which will be different for each client.
My Training
Master of Social Work with Mental Health emphasis, The Ohio State University
Formal training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), ACT for OCD, and ACT for procrastination
Formal training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and CBT for OCD in children and adolescents
Formal training in Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Solution-focused Therapy
Formal training in Adlerian Play Therapy (beginning level) and play therapy for divorcing families
Formal training in Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (CPT) (introductory level)
Formal training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) (introductory level)
Trauma- and shame-informed
To maintain high quality care, I receive weekly supervision and oversight from my supervisor, Mordy Gottlieb, LCSW, who is the owner of The Game Changer Group.
Me, Personally
When I’m not doing therapy, I spend most of my time hanging out with my three sons and husband. I like getting alone time when I can, usually browsing at bookstores or the library or getting my heart rate up by hiking uphill or jogging. My personal goal is to use each day to create a life worth living—for me that means a life of balance, authenticity, and gusto—so that I can help my clients do the same.
Ready to work with me? Request an appointment at The Game Changer Group’s booking site.