Leizel Collo, AMFT
Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist

Supervised by Shannel Ezedi, LPCC

Hello! I’m Leizel, a Registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist (AMFT159240) supervised by Shannel Ezedi, LPCC (LPCC19030). I completed a minor in counseling and social change, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, and a Master of Science degree in Marriage & Family Therapy at San Diego State University. My education paid a lot of attention to the ways culture, interpersonal relationships, and well being are impacted by external political and economic systems, so sometimes I may be interested in how these show up when people come to therapy.

Since graduating, I have been interested in ways fandom could be incorporated into the therapeutic space. As a fangirl myself, I am particularly interested in how fandom and narrative therapy practices could overlap through expressive activities. This interest influences my therapeutic style. Much like a fan watches and re-watches, reads and re-reads, or plays and re-plays their favorite series and franchises, I like to invite clients to explore and re-explore the stories of their lives. Hopefully through re-exploration, new and different ways to understand oneself, relationships and problems emerge.

Clinical Experience

In the gap between my two degrees I supported adults with co-occurring diagnoses of schizophrenia and substance use disorders as a mental health worker at an inpatient facility. When I returned to SDSU to train as a therapist, I worked with young adults and youth from low socioeconomic, multicultural and marginalized communities. These experiences gave me the chance to provide psychotherapy for issues related to Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, Autism, OCD, Bipolar disorder, psychosis, adjustment disorder, substance use, suicide, self-harm, trauma, grief, gender, sexuality, race, parent separation, dysregulated mood, stress, anger, relationships and confidence.

My therapeutic lens is influenced by my foundational training in narrative therapy and as I’ve learned more about other theories ( i.e. Bowen family systems, structural family therapy, solution-focused therapy, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)), I have continued to apply narrative ethics to my work. This means that I believe clients are the experts in their own lives and my role as a therapist is to ask questions that pull from their own expertise. In sessions, I collaborate with clients to notice what is already being done, what works best, what could be changed, and who could be teamed up with to respond to the problems they engage with.

Pronouns: She/Her

Languages: English

Location: El Cajon, MIssion Valley

Licensure

California - AMFT159240 expiration 10/31/2026, Supervised by Shannel Ezedi, LPCC

Education

M.S. Marriage and Family Therapy
San Diego State University

B.A. Psychology, minor in Counseling & Social Change
San Diego State University

Please note: Each individual therapist is responsible for the legal and ethical psychotherapy treatment of their own clients. The therapist on this page operates independently from other providers in this office.