About Alina
Alina Gastesi-De Armas is a licensed mental health counselor with 28 years of experience. She focuses on anxiety, stress, trauma and abuse, depression, self-esteem, and coping with life changes. She speaks English and Spanish and works with people who want practical help and steady support.
Alina believes clients are the experts on their own stories. She listens without judgment and helps people notice the strengths they already have. Sessions aim to build small, useful skills that fit daily life rather than rely on jargon or long explanations.
Background and approach
Her approach blends acceptance and commitment ideas, cognitive behavioral techniques, and client-centered listening. That mix helps people manage anxious thoughts, shift unhelpful behavior patterns, and make choices that match their values. She also draws on dialectical strategies to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance when needed.
People come for anxiety, social fears, or stress that interferes with work and relationships. Others seek help after trauma or during big life changes. Alina also addresses guilt, shame, communication problems, and questions about life purpose and self-love.
Sessions are offered in English and Spanish and can happen by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging. The first step is a brief intake that clarifies goals and what a person hopes to change. From there, she and the client set attainable steps and check progress over time.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Alina uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice painful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. ACT is useful for anxiety, stress, and finding direction during life changes because it focuses on what matters most rather than trying to eliminate every uncomfortable thought.She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and test new behaviors. CBT gives concrete exercises and short experiments clients can practice between sessions to reduce worry and shift mood.
Choosing the right approach is a shared process. The therapist and client talk about goals, try techniques, and adjust the plan as progress is tracked. That collaborative work helps find what fits the person's needs and preferences.
Online formats available include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video lets people use face-to-face interaction; phone can be a good fit when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging offer flexible, shorter exchanges for skill coaching or brief support. These options make it easier to schedule sessions around work, childcare, or travel while keeping the focus on practical tools and steady progress.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 28 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English, Spanish
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