Gaea Woods

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

  • Los Angeles CA UNITED STATES

Gaea Woods provides depth-oriented, trauma-informed therapy to individuals and couples.

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Spotlight

2 min

Online Dating in 2026: Are Apps Bringing Us Closer or Just Keeping Us Swiping?

In 2025, “We met on an app” is the most ordinary love story in the world. Swiping has replaced setups and chance encounters as the primary way couples connect in many countries. But as online dating becomes normal, a new question is emerging: Are app-born relationships actually as happy and secure as we think? Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Gaea Woods, an expert in the Offline.now digital wellness directory, sees both sides in her practice. “Online dating is just a tool,” she says. “It can absolutely bring people together who would never have met otherwise. But the way we use it — the constant options, the ghosting, the parallel conversations — can quietly undermine trust even after you’ve deleted the app.” Woods says that she hears tension from from clients: “Singles tell me, ‘I hate the apps, but I don’t know another way to meet people.’ Couples tell me, ‘We met on an app, and I’m grateful — but there’s this low-level anxiety: Would you still be with me if you kept swiping?’ The technology amplifies questions that were always there about choice, commitment and comparison.” She emphasizes that how couples talk about their “app origin story” matters more than where they met. Unspoken assumptions — about whether exes stay in your DMs, if profiles stay active “just in case,” or how much flirting online is acceptable — often fuel insecurity more than the apps themselves. “Online dating is here to stay,” Woods says. “The question isn’t ‘Is it bad?’ It’s, ‘How do we use it in a way that supports real intimacy instead of keeping us one foot in and one foot out?’” Featured Expert Gaea Woods, MA, LMFT – Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist specializing in digital dependency, intimacy and communication in modern relationships. She can speak to app fatigue, the “online dating effect,” how apps change expectations around choice and commitment, and the kinds of conversations couples need to have once the swipe turns into something serious. Expert interviews can be arranged through the Offline.now media team.

Gaea Woods

2 min

The Doomscrolling Couple: Spending Time Together on Different Screens

In 2025, a lot of couples end their day the same way: lying in bed, each silently scrolling through an endless stream of bad news. They’re physically together, but emotionally somewhere else. Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Gaea Woods sees this pattern constantly in her practice — and says doomscrolling has become a quiet third party in many relationships. “Phones are killing interpersonal relationships — not because tech is evil, but because we use it unconsciously at the moments connection matters most,” she says. “Even something as simple as being on your phone at dinner is a way to express, ‘I’m more interested in my phone than I am in you.’” Instead of talking about their day, fears, or plans, partners lie next to each other consuming the same distressing content, letting shared anxiety take the place of actual conversation. Research on doomscrolling backs up what Woods sees in the therapy room. Studies and reviews have found that compulsively consuming negative news online is linked with higher anxiety, depression, stress, sadness, and feelings of overwhelm, and even existential anxiety and pessimism about life. “Doomscrolling feels like you’re staying informed together,” Woods says, “but what’s really happening is that both nervous systems are getting more activated while neither partner is actually talking about what they’re feeling.” Relationship science adds another important piece: phubbing — phone snubbing during interactions. Multiple studies (including a recent meta-analysis published by Frontiers in Psychology) show that partner phubbing is associated with lower relationship and marital satisfaction, less intimacy and emotional closeness, and more conflict and jealousy. Woods describes what that looks like in real life: “You pick up your phone instead of saying, ‘That hurt my feelings.’ Your partner wonders, ‘Is she okay? Is he mad at me?’ and then they grab their phone too. Suddenly you’re two people on your phones instead of two people connecting.” Her core message for couples and for journalists covering modern relationships is that: scrolling together isn’t the same as being together. When screens become a third party at the table or in bed, intimacy quietly leaves the room. Featured Expert Gaea Woods, MA, LMFT – Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist specializing in digital dependency, intimacy and communication. She speaks to how doomscrolling and phone use act as a “third party” in relationships, why scrolling side-by-side increases emotional loneliness, and the practical phone rules that help couples rebuild genuine connection. Expert interviews can be arranged through the Offline.now media team.

Gaea Woods

2 min

You Can’t Reconnect with Family Through a Screen You Won’t Put Down

When families say, “We never really talk anymore,” the holidays are supposed to be the fix, the one time of year everyone gets under the same roof, sits around the same table, and finally catches up. But in 2025, most people arrive at those gatherings with a second guest in tow: their phone. New behavioral data from Offline.now, a digital wellness platform founded by author and CEO Eli Singer, shows 8 in 10 people want a healthier relationship with technology, yet more than half feel too overwhelmed to know where to start. That makes the holidays a natural “reset” moment; if parents and other adults are willing to change their own habits first. Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Gaea Woods says phones have quietly become the “third party” in many households: “Phones are killing interpersonal relationships not because tech is evil, but because we use it unconsciously at the moments connection matters most. When you’re scrolling at dinner, you’re sending the message, ‘My phone is more interesting and important than you.’” Research on “phubbing” aka phone snubbing backs this up, linking partner and family phone use during conversations with lower relationship satisfaction and more conflict. Offline.now’s experts see the same pattern: when screens show up at the table, intimacy and meaningful conversation drop. Executive Function Coach Craig Selinger argues that the real leverage point isn’t screen-time rules for kids; it’s modelling by adults: “If you want behavior change in kids, start with the parent model. A 12-year-old will not put their phone away at dinner if their parents won’t. Kids copy what you do, not what you say.” When kids see parents physically turn phones face-down and set them aside, it creates permission, even relief. Over a few days of holiday visits, those small moments can add up to something families say they miss most: unhurried conversations, shared jokes, and the feeling that the people in front of you are more important than the feed on your screen. For journalists covering holiday family dynamics, tech and relationships, or digital wellness, Offline.now can offer expert interviews on: How to design realistic, family-wide phone rules for gatherings Why parental modelling matters more than any app setting Simple scripts parents can use to set expectations without shaming kids Featured Experts Gaea Woods, MA, LMFT – Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist specializing in digital dependency, intimacy, and communication in modern relationships. Craig Selinger, M.S., CCC-SLP – Executive Function Coach and child development specialist focused on how tech impacts learning, attention, and family systems. Expert availability can be arranged through Offline.now’s media team.

Gaea WoodsCraig Selinger
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Biography

Born and raised in California, Gaea has lived on the east and west coasts, and abroad in Europe and Asia. She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles with a specialization in Spiritual Depth Psychology, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design.

Gaea is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, owner of the group psychotherapy practice: Unfolding Self Psychotherapy, and clinical supervisor. She specializes in treating trauma, eating disorders, self-esteem issues, and improving relationship functioning and overall well-being. She employs Psychodynamic and Depth Psychology, both of which emphasize developing a connection between the conscious and unconscious mind.

Prior to pursuing a career as a Psychotherapist, Gaea worked in the fields of fine art, commercial photography, and advertising. She learned firsthand that balancing one’s personal vision with commercial interests can be both challenging and rewarding. As an artist and photographer herself, Gaea is especially interested in working with and supporting clients who are on their own creative path.

Areas of Expertise

Body-Image Filter Issues
Depression & Screen Use
Online Dating Rejection
Burnout Resilience
Healthy Tech Boundaries in Relationships
Journaling & Creativity Coaching
EMDR
Motivational Coaching
Psychedelic Integration Coaching

Affiliations

  • California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Journey Clinical (Partnership for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy)

Education

Board of Behavioral Sciences

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

LMFT #117978

The Institute For Creative Mindfulness

EMDR Therapy Training Parts I & II

The Trauma Resource Institute

Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) Level I

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Event Appearances

Emotional Wellness for Women and People of Color

Gyals Network  Los Angeles, CA

2018-10-03

Media Appearances

Can straight married men and women be friends? I went on a quest to find out

LA Times  online

2024-04-30

“It’s different for everyone,” said Gaea Woods, a marriage and family therapist who practices in Los Feliz. “It’s up to you to decide based on the relationship if it’s appropriate or not.”

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Interview

Relationships Are Complicated Magazine  online

2022-06-01

I was recently interviewed by Relationships Are Complicated, a newly-launched relationships magazine. Enjoy my interview below, and check out their site for more interviews with therapists from across the world.

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Episode # 211 - Gaea Woods

The Downward Facing Spiritual Spiral Podcast  online

2022-05-31

Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I'm thrilled to welcome Marriage & Family Therapist, Gaea Woods, to the show. Gaea is also a talented artist and freelance photographer and I actually met Gaea over 10 years ago when I was in the studio recording a new record. About seven years ago, she transitioned into the world of therapy where she practices full-time as a licensed therapist. Gaea and I begin by talking about creativity, photography and the challenges one can face dealing with the commerce side of art.

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Courses

Antioch Community Therapy Services (ACTS)

Low-cost teletherapy services for those in need in our community

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