About Paula
Dr. Paula Alvarez helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, or life changes. She is Dr.
Paula Alvarez, an LCSW with 35 years of experience and a long history in mental health care. Her style is straightforward and practical, aimed at making daily life easier for worried parents and adults. She draws on client-centered work, which means she follows the person's lead and focuses on what they want to change.
Background and approach
She also uses cognitive behavioral tools to help people notice and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Those who prefer skills-based approaches may also use techniques from Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Her background includes many years in inpatient and outpatient settings and work with people affected by trauma, domestic violence, and addiction.
That experience informs how she supports people through grief, relationship strain, parenting stress, and career transitions. She has worked with clients around aging, caregiver strain, immigration concerns, and LGBTQ issues as well. Sessions can include goal planning, skill practice, homework, and reading suggestions when helpful.
The aim is to leave each session with a clear, manageable next step. Dr. Alvarez explains options plainly and builds on what each person already knows.
She offers services from Missouri and connects with people across locations. Conversations are collaborative and paced to fit the person's needs and goals.
Therapeutic approaches and how they fit online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and emotions without getting stuck in them, and then take steps that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, stress, and adjusting to life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with real-life experiments, which can reduce worry and improve mood. DBT skills teach emotion regulation and distress-tolerance techniques that help when anger, intense feelings, or relationship conflict get in the way.Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals, whether that means skill practice, values work, homework, or conversational support. Decisions are revisited together to make sure the plan feels helpful and realistic.
Online formats offered include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video lets people use face-to-face interaction for role-play and skill coaching. Phone calls can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Live chat and text messaging allow ongoing contact between sessions for brief check-ins or to track progress. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to get consistent help across locations.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- California, Missouri, Illinois
- Languages
- English
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