Jasmeet BhullarLMFT · Founder & clinical director
Founder and clinical director of Align, and a licensed therapist for South Asian and other adults and couples in their 20s and 30s — for relationships, identity, and the patterns we inherit.
Is this you?
I started Align because I wanted therapy to feel different from the version a lot of us grew up around.
In many families — including my own South Asian one — feelings were something you managed quietly, and needing help could feel like a kind of failure.
I don't see it that way. I think most of us were simply never taught the skills, and then we spend years judging ourselves for not having them.
So my work starts from understanding, not fixing. We look at the patterns you inherited — about love, duty, shame, and what you're allowed to want — and decide together which ones still serve you.
These days I keep a small caseload, because I also lead and train our team. If I'm full or not the right fit, I'll personally help match you with the Align therapist who is.
You don't have to choose between honoring where you come from and building a life that's actually yours.
What the work can feel like.
For a lot of people, and especially those from families where feelings were handled privately, the first relief is being met without judgment for needing help at all.
In couples work, we slow the argument down until both of you can hear what it's really about. The dishes, the in-laws, or the guest list are rarely the whole story. Usually there's an older question underneath: whether you matter, whether you're on the same side.
With family, the goal is to stay connected while making your own choices. You can love your parents and still decide some things for yourself. Most of the work is learning to hold both without the guilt running the conversation.
And we move. Insight matters, but you came in for changes, and we'll start working toward them early.
How I work.
I combine practical tools for the present with deeper work on where the patterns came from, because lasting change usually needs both. With couples I lean on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). With families I use Bowen Family Systems, the framework that differentiation comes from. Narrative and existential work carry the bigger questions about identity, culture, and direction, and Motivational Interviewing helps when part of you wants the change and part of you doesn't. Sex therapy runs through my work with couples, engaged or married.
For OCD and anxiety, ERP, ACT, and CBT do the heavy lifting. I've taught every method listed here at the university level, and I train our associates in them through supervision. For the science of why this kind of work changes things over time, see Why Therapy Works.
What I help with.
The themes that come up most in my work. Each links to more on how Align approaches it:
At Align I co-lead our family boundaries, identity, and couples and premarital work with Nazzi Vazira-Bhullar, our OCD work with Danielle Miller, our sex and intimacy work with Marjolaine Bernstein, and our burnout work with Fidel Quintanilla.
I've also written Field Notes on this work, including The wedding that isn't just yours, The voice you find with your partner in the room, and The you that can't turn off at night.
Who I work with.
Adults and couples, often in the years when careers, partners, and family expectations all arrive at once. I have deep experience supporting South Asian clients through family pressure, identity, and belonging, and I work with clients from every background. Many are professionals with more than one job title. Individual, couples, premarital, and family therapy, including family work for OCD.
Training & credentials.
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, California BBS #117019 · Founder and Clinical Director, Align Online Therapy · 15+ years in practice and clinical supervisor to every associate therapist at Align
- Adjunct Faculty, Pepperdine University (over 10 years) and Fullerton College
- Co-author, Working in the California Community Behavioral Health System: A Navigational Tool (Olivia Loewy & Associates)
- Member, AASECT, working toward the AASECT Certified Sex Therapist credential · Member, International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) · Member, AAMFT · Member, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
- Previously Vice President and Senior Management Consultant, Expert Resource, an organizational-culture and executive-coaching consultancy for Fortune 500 companies
- Previously President, Pepperdine University Alumni Leadership Council (Chair, GSEP Committee), and previously served on the AAMFT-California Legislative and Advocacy Committee
- Previously Research Assistant at UCLA, UC Davis, and Pepperdine University; clinical work at the Occupational Therapy Training Program, Children's Institute, and OPICA Adult Day Care; group facilitator, Mother Nurture Network
- Master's in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, Pepperdine University — the shared graduate program of every Align clinician · BS in Psychology with a Mathematical Emphasis, University of California, Davis
Logistics.
Sessions are held entirely online, on a secure platform, anywhere in California, in English, Hindi, or Punjabi. Scheduling is flexible: Sunday through Saturday, mornings, afternoons, and evenings, though my own openings are limited. The regular rate is $200 per individual session and $250 per couples session, with a limited number of reduced-fee slots and out-of-network reimbursement available. Start with a free 15-minute consultation.
You can also find me on Psychology Today, South Asian Therapists, the Asian Mental Health Collective, Monarch and LinkedIn.
Questions about working with Jasmeet, answered.
Is Jasmeet currently accepting new clients?
Openings with me are few, since I'm also running and training the team. The free consultation is where we find out whether I have one. If I don't, I'll help you find the therapist here who fits.
Does Jasmeet specialize in working with South Asian clients?
Yes. A lot of my work is with South Asian adults and couples navigating family expectation, duty, identity, and relationships, though I work with people from all backgrounds. Sessions are available in English, Hindi, and Punjabi, which matters when the hardest conversations happen in a second language at home.
What is Jasmeet's approach to couples and premarital work?
I draw heavily on attachment and Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples — getting underneath the surface argument to the question both people are really asking. In premarital work, we make the invisible expectations visible before they become resentments.
Sex and intimacy are part of that conversation from the start. I'm a member of AASECT, the professional body for sex therapists, and I'm working toward its Certified Sex Therapist credential.
How does Jasmeet work with OCD?
I take the family side of OCD: the reassurance, the checking on someone's behalf, and the quiet adjustments families make that often hold the loop in place. Danielle Miller and I share Align's OCD work between us.
I belong to the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), and alongside the exposure work I bring in Bowen Family Systems when the family is part of the pattern.
Does Jasmeet supervise the other therapists at Align?
Yes. I supervise every associate therapist at Align, and the whole team meets weekly for supervision and training. If you end up working with one of our associates, the work is shaped by that weekly consultation, and you can ask about it.
What makes Align different from other online therapy practices?
I built Align to grow by fit rather than volume — small caseloads, careful matching, and therapists who name your specific pattern rather than treating a category. If you're not sure who's right for you, the consultation exists to figure that out.
How will I know if therapy with Jasmeet is helping?
Often it's a pattern you finally see clearly, a conversation you handle differently, or a choice that feels like yours rather than inherited. I won't promise a timeline, but you'll have a clear sense of what we're working toward and whether you're moving.