About Alexandra
Alexandra Calestini is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in New York. She draws on 12 years of experience helping people cope with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and challenges with self-esteem. Alex aims to create a respectful and nonjudgmental space where people feel heard and supported.
Her approach is collaborative and straightforward. She listens first to understand what matters most. Then she uses tools from client-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness to help people notice patterns and try small, practical changes.
Background and approach
Alex often helps people manage overwhelming feelings and slow, repetitive thoughts. She works with practical skills for day-to-day life - breathing and grounding, behavior experiments, and clearer ways to talk to yourself. She also addresses relationship wounds like abandonment and attachment concerns when they show up in stress or anxiety.
Trauma, grief, and experiences of violence are handled with care and patience. Alex pays attention to how trauma shows up in the body and in disconnection, and she supports pacing so people can process hard experiences without being pushed too fast. Sessions may include skill practice, reflective conversation, and steps you can try between meetings.
Alex uses a warm, direct style and respects each person’s culture and background. Her aim is to help people feel steadier and more able to handle life’s ups and downs.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Client-centered therapy puts the person's experience first. The therapist listens closely and follows what matters to you, helping you set goals and pace the work. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and offers practical experiments to test new ways of coping. Dialectical behavior therapy adds skills for emotion regulation and distress tolerance when strong feelings feel overwhelming.Choosing an approach is a joint process. The therapist will talk with you about your goals and try methods that fit your needs and preferences. Together you can adjust what you do in sessions based on what helps most over time.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for conversations that benefit from face-to-face interaction. Phone sessions work when video is difficult or bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging allow shorter check-ins, quick skill coaching, and support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, parenting, and other daily demands while keeping the focus on practical tools and gradual progress.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English
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