About Laurel
Laurel Stephens is a licensed clinical social worker with two decades of practice in New York. She focuses on helping people manage stress and anxiety while addressing related concerns like depression and trauma. Laurel approaches sessions with calm, plainspoken guidance and a focus on practical change.
Laurel treats each person as the expert on their own life and uses that perspective to shape the work. She combines her clinical background and real-world experience to set goals alongside the client.
Background and approach
Conversations are tailored to what a person needs right now rather than a fixed script. In session she listens for patterns that feed worry, low mood, or strained relationships. She helps people break those patterns with small, doable steps and clearer thinking.
Practical tools and talk are mixed so clients leave with strategies they can try between sessions. Parents and people coping with family transitions often seek help for anxiety, blended family issues, parenting strain, or separation and divorce. Laurel also supports people working through trauma, grief, feelings of guilt or shame, and questions about life purpose.
Her style is respectful and direct. She aims to create a space where clients feel heard, supported, and able to test new ways of handling stress. Laurel encourages steady progress and adjusts the plan as needs change.
Therapeutic approaches and online sessions that fit your life
Laurel uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on clear thinking and behavior change. One common approach she relies on helps people identify unhelpful thought patterns and try new ways of thinking to reduce anxiety and low mood. This kind of work is useful for social anxiety, worry, and mood concerns.She also uses practical, skills-focused methods to teach coping tools for stress and trauma recovery. These techniques break problems into manageable steps, such as breathing or grounding exercises and small behavior changes that make daily life easier. They are often helpful for post-traumatic stress, parenting stress, and adjusting after separation or major life changes.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Laurel works with each client to pick strategies that match their goals, preferences, and daily routine. She checks in regularly and adjusts the plan when something isn’t working.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs. Video lets you have a face-to-face conversation, phone calls are useful when bandwidth or camera use is limited, and messaging can support quick check-ins or ongoing reflection. These options make it easier to get consistent care around work, childcare, and other commitments.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English
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