Welcome
Therapy in Costa Mesa and online for professionals, teens, and children ready to move beyond achievement and find lasting emotional fulfillment.
Meet your Costa Mesa Therapist
I’m Verenice Torres, LCSW (#89158) — a bilingual psychotherapist and founder of Essence Therapy Services. I offer thoughtfully curated therapy for children, teens, and adults in Costa Mesa and through secure telehealth across California and Oregon.
My work is rooted in depth, attunement, and lasting transformation.
Growing up as the oldest daughter, I learned early how to hold space for others — to notice what wasn’t said, to sense what was needed, and to carry responsibility with care. That foundation now informs the way I show up in the therapy room: grounded, intuitive, and deeply present.
With over 12 years of clinical experience and graduate training from the University of Southern California, I specialize in helping clients move beyond surface-level coping and into meaningful healing.
Therapy Services
For children and teens, therapy focuses on strengthening emotional regulation, building confidence, and creating a steady internal foundation as they navigate school pressures, identity development, peer relationships, and the expectations placed upon them.
For adults, I specialize in working with high-achieving professionals who have built successful lives yet still feel a quiet sense that something is missing. Many have done everything “right” — pursued the degree, built the career, become independent — but find themselves feeling disconnected, restless, or emotionally unfulfilled. Through inner child healing, attachment-focused therapy, and EMDR, we explore the deeper patterns beneath perfectionism, relationship struggles, and the persistent feeling of being emotionally behind.
Therapy with me is collaborative and intentional. It is a space where insight meets compassion — where we slow down enough to understand the roots of your struggles and build something stronger in their place.
I offer in-person therapy in Costa Mesa, CA, as well as secure virtual sessions throughout California and Oregon.
Outside of the therapy room, I recharge through paddle boarding, golf, sushi nights with loved ones, and the magic of Disneyland — reminders that even amidst growth work, life is meant to be enjoyed.
