Dr. Aisha Johnson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and holds a doctorate in Education from UC Davis, with a specialization in counseling psychology and grief education. She also holds a master's degree from Sacramento State University and has been licensed in California (#LMFT97421) for over 16 years. Before entering private practice, Dr. Johnson spent nearly a decade working in oncology social work and hospice — sitting with patients and families navigating terminal illness, anticipatory grief, and the profound disorientation that follows loss. That formative experience shapes everything about how she works today: with steadiness, deep presence, and an unflinching willingness to accompany clients into the hardest parts of being human.
Dr. Johnson's practice is built on the conviction that grief is not a problem to be solved but a natural process that deserves skilled, compassionate witnessing. She is trained in Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT), a specialized evidence-based protocol developed at Columbia University for clients whose grief has become prolonged or debilitating. She is also a Certified EMDR therapist, using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing to help clients process traumatic memories and grief-related intrusive thoughts that have not responded to traditional talk therapy. Her feminist therapy lens ensures that women's mental health — in all its complexity — is treated with the gravity it deserves. She works with women navigating depression, postpartum struggles, caregiver burnout, and the losses — of self, of relationship, of health — that rarely receive public acknowledgment.
Clients consistently describe Dr. Johnson as both intellectually rigorous and profoundly gentle — someone who reads the room with extraordinary precision and knows when to ask a hard question and when to simply hold space. Her Midtown Sacramento office is calm and carefully designed to feel like a refuge. Telehealth sessions are available for California residents. Dr. Johnson is currently accepting new individual and couples clients.
Specialties & Issues Treated
Specialties
Grief & LossTraumaDepressionWomen's IssuesComplicated GriefCaregiver BurnoutPTSDEnd-of-Life Support
Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT)EMDRTrauma-Informed CBTFeminist TherapyMindfulness-Based TherapyAttachment Theory
Services Offered
Service
Session Length
Fee
Individual Therapy
50 minutes
$185 / session
Couples Therapy
60 minutes
$210 / session
EMDR Sessions
75 minutes
$230 / session
Grief Consultation
25 minutes
Complimentary
Telehealth Sessions
All types available
Same rate as in-person
Telehealth available via HIPAA-compliant secure video. California residents only.
Insurance & Fees
Accepted Insurance Plans
✓Aetna
✓United Healthcare
✓MHN / HealthNet
✓Self-Pay
Superbills Available: For out-of-network clients, Dr. Johnson provides detailed superbills after each session for insurance reimbursement. She does not currently offer a sliding scale but can provide referrals to grief support groups and lower-cost community resources as needed.
Office Location
Dr. Aisha Johnson — Midtown Sacramento Office
1925 L St, Suite 520
Sacramento, CA 95811
"I lost my mother and my marriage in the same year. I didn't think I could survive it. Dr. Johnson held space for all of it without flinching, without rushing me, without trying to fix what cannot be fixed. She is the most skilled grief therapist I have ever encountered. Period."
Sandra W. ·Grief Therapy
★★★★★
"EMDR with Dr. Johnson was genuinely transformative. I had carried childhood trauma for thirty years and had tried many approaches over the years with limited success. After our EMDR work together, those memories no longer consume me. I can remember without being hijacked."
Tamara B. ·EMDR & Trauma Therapy
★★★★★
"I came to Dr. Johnson after a devastating miscarriage, feeling like no one around me understood the weight of what I had lost. She understood immediately. She is warm, deeply knowledgeable, and truly extraordinary at what she does. I came in broken and she helped me find my footing again."
Cecelia H. ·Grief & Women's Issues
Reviews are voluntarily submitted by former clients. Names are abbreviated to protect privacy in accordance with HIPAA guidelines. MFTFinder does not verify clinical outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT) is a structured, evidence-based protocol developed by Dr. Katherine Shear at Columbia University for individuals experiencing prolonged or complicated grief — grief that remains intensely painful and functionally debilitating for an extended period after a significant loss. It is appropriate for people who feel stuck, unable to adapt to life without the person or thing they've lost, or who experience intrusive grief symptoms that interfere with daily functioning. CGT typically involves 16 sessions that blend grief-focused exposure techniques with skill-building. Dr. Johnson is trained in this approach and recommends a consultation to assess whether it is the right fit.
Absolutely — and this is a significant part of her practice. Grief shows up in many forms beyond bereavement: the loss of a marriage or long-term relationship; the grief of a chronic illness diagnosis; the loss of fertility or a pregnancy; the grief of a career that ended unexpectedly; the grief of a version of yourself that you can no longer inhabit. Dr. Johnson treats all of these losses with the same seriousness and depth of care she brings to bereavement work. No grief is too small or too "unconventional" to deserve support.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) sessions are longer than standard therapy appointments — typically 75 minutes — to allow time for proper preparation, processing, and closure within a single session. Dr. Johnson begins with preparation work before any EMDR processing occurs, which may take several sessions. The processing phase involves holding a targeted memory in mind while following bilateral stimulation (typically guided eye movements). Clients often describe feeling a noticeable shift in how a memory feels after processing — less charged, more distant. EMDR is not hypnosis and you remain in full conscious control throughout.
Yes — postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and the broader experience of adjusting to motherhood (including the unexpected grief of identity loss) are areas Dr. Johnson works with regularly. Her feminist therapy lens is particularly well-suited to exploring the unspoken expectations, disappointments, and erasures that new mothers often experience. Telehealth is available for postpartum clients who cannot easily travel to the office. Partners are welcome to attend sessions when that is helpful.
Feminist therapy doesn't mean that every session is about gender politics — it means that Dr. Johnson situates her clients' experiences within the larger social, cultural, and structural context of their lives. It means she takes seriously the ways that women are socialized to minimize their needs, carry others' pain, and doubt the validity of their own distress. It means treatment is collaborative and power-conscious, with no hierarchy between therapist and client. For women who have spent a lifetime being told that their emotions are too much or not enough, feminist therapy can be a profoundly corrective experience.