About Marisa
Marisa Schaff is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with ten years of experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress or anxiety and those dealing with addiction, depression, bipolar mood concerns, and relationship or grief issues. Her tone is straightforward and practical, focused on small steps that clients can use day to day.
Marisa began working as a substance abuse counselor in 2010 and moved into broader mental health care after graduate school.
Background and approach
She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver and completed additional post-graduate training in marriage and family therapy. Her background includes work in drug court and residential treatment for pregnant and postpartum women. Her style is strength-based and down-to-earth, with room for humor when it fits.
She blends person-centered care with techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and EMDR to match what each person needs. Sessions aim to build practical skills, clarify values, and reduce symptoms that get in the way of daily life.
Marisa often supports people working through trauma, attachment and abandonment wounds, codependency, family of origin problems, and struggles with intimacy. She also addresses life transitions, isolation, and first responder stress. The focus is on measurable changes rather than abstract talk.
She practices in Washington and conducts sessions in English. Appointments include evenings and some weekends to fit varied schedules. To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule sessions based on availability.
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Marisa commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR alongside mindfulness practices. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with small behavioral changes to reduce anxiety and improve mood. EMDR uses guided attention and memory processing to help lessen the impact of traumatic memories and related symptoms. Mindfulness teaches simple attention and breathing skills to reduce overwhelm and increase moment-to-moment coping.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Marisa will talk with each person about goals and preferences, then recommend techniques to try. The plan can change as progress is made so the work stays practical and relevant to daily life.
Online therapy is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video is useful for in-depth sessions that benefit from visual cues, while phone sessions can fit into a busy day or use less bandwidth. Live chat and messaging are helpful for brief check-ins, skill practice, and ongoing support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into evenings and weekend slots.
Questions people ask
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How do I get started with Marisa?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- Washington
- Languages
- English
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