About Brian
Dr. Brian Esterling is a licensed psychologist with three decades of experience helping people manage anxiety, stress, depression, and life transitions. He combines practical strategies with a straightforward, respectful manner to help people set clear goals and move toward them.
He began his career on the faculty at Duke University Medical Center, where he saw clients and supervised psychiatric interns during outpatient rotations. He later served as Clinical Director for a national managed care organization overseeing treatment planning across inpatient and outpatient settings.
Background and approach
He now chairs a graduate psychology program at a major online university in Florida. Dr. Esterling uses Client-Centered and solution-focused methods to make sessions feel collaborative and goal-directed.
He also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness tools to help people notice how thoughts, feelings, and actions affect one another. These approaches are used to address anxiety, self-esteem, addiction concerns, grief, anger, career stresses, and relationship issues. In practical terms he helps people map what they want to change and then break that work into concrete steps.
Sessions often include skills practice, thought records, or brief experiments to test new ways of responding. Motivational interviewing is used when deciding which changes feel both meaningful and realistic. He lives in south Florida, enjoys competitive rowing, and spends time with his wife and two children.
His varied clinical and administrative background informs a pragmatic style that aims to help people make steady progress.
Approaches you can use online
Dr. Esterling commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness practices to help people spot unhelpful thinking patterns and test new behaviors. CBT breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions and offers clear exercises to change each part. Mindfulness therapy teaches simple attention and breathing skills so people can reduce reactivity and approach stressors with more control.He also relies on Client-Centered and solution-focused techniques to keep work practical and aligned with your priorities. These methods emphasize collaboration - the therapist and client decide together what to try and how to measure progress, adjusting the plan as goals evolve.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide options that fit different routines. Video lets you meet face to face for skill demonstrations and deeper conversation. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Chat and text messaging work well for quick notes, brief coaching, or ongoing support between longer sessions. These formats make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life while using the same therapeutic tools you would in person.
Questions people ask
What concerns does he help with?
What is his therapy style like?
How much experience does he have?
What are his credentials and where is he located?
Which languages are supported?
Can he work with clients outside the United States?
What session formats are available?
How does the cost and start process work?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
Also listed
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Coaching
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Relationship issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Florida, North Carolina
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.