About Rafaela
Rafaela DeSoto-Ray is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Texas with 25 years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people who are struggling with anxiety, stress, depression, relationship strain, and major life changes. Her approach favors practical steps and new skills clients can use between sessions.
Rafaela frames clients as experts on their own lives and looks for strengths to build on. She adapts techniques to fit each person rather than using one fixed method.
Background and approach
Sessions aim to leave people with at least one useful idea to try before the next visit. Her work includes support for coping with trauma and abuse, grief, sleep problems, anger, and intimacy-related issues. She also addresses concerns that often overlap with mental health, such as ADHD, bipolar symptoms, caregiver stress, and family of origin problems.
Rafaela has experience with developmental and neurological issues including dementia and head trauma. Rafaela blends client-centered listening with practical strategies drawn from cognitive behavioral approaches and solution-focused tools. She emphasizes clear goals, short-term skill building, and steady progress.
The goal is to reduce overwhelming feelings and help people return to daily life with more confidence. People who choose her can expect straightforward language and a collaborative tone. She will work with each person to pick methods that match their needs and preferences.
Starting therapy is framed as a courageous step, and Rafaela aims to make the process understandable and useful from the first session.
How Rafaela’s Approaches Work Online
Client-centered therapy starts with listening. The therapist follows what matters most to the client, reflects concerns, and helps build on personal strengths. This approach suits people who want acceptance and guidance while they decide next steps.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. Rafaela uses CBT techniques to help reduce anxiety and reframe unhelpful thinking, which can improve mood and daily functioning.
Solution-focused therapy looks for small, practical changes that lead to quick improvements. It helps set clear, short-term goals and finds what already works so clients can do more of it between sessions.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Rafaela collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences. She will try different tools together and adjust the plan based on what helps most.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls work well for in-depth conversations and visual cues. Phone sessions can fit into a busy day or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief check-ins, quick coping strategies, or when people prefer not to be on camera. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, caregiving, and other duties.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Depression
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Texas
- Languages
- English
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