Claudia Boles, LCSW

Claudia Boles is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, trauma, depression, parenting strain, relationship and family problems, and mood disorders like bipolar. She brings two decades of practice in hospital, healthcare, and mental health settings. Claudia works in California and offers care in English.

Claudia uses cognitive behavioral techniques along with solution-focused and trauma-focused approaches. She keeps things practical and goal oriented, helping people identify patterns, try small changes, and build coping skills that fit daily life. Sessions often include mindfulness and motivational interviewing tools to support motivation and self-reflection.

Her background includes a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California and extensive clinical work supporting people with serious health conditions, chronic illness, bereavement, and trauma. Claudia has particular experience supporting people coping with loss from suicide and with complex medical or caregiving stress.

She sees recovery and growth as a mix of practical steps and understanding life context. Claudia emphasizes adaptive coping, clearer insight, and direction for change rather than abstract theory. She draws on many perspectives to match tools to a person’s needs.

A longtime volunteer with community organizations, Claudia has worked as a Crisis Counselor with Crisis Text Line. Outside of clinical work she values nature and the arts, and brings a compassionate, empathetic approach to sessions.

How Claudia’s approaches work online

Claudia commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and then testing small changes. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, panic, and coping with life changes.

She also uses trauma-focused therapy to address the aftereffects of abuse, accidents, or other traumatic events. That work centres on processing memories and building tools to reduce reactivity and improve day-to-day functioning.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Claudia collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences, and she adjusts the plan as progress is made.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video works well for face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone calls can fit into a busy day or use less bandwidth, and chat or messaging can be useful for brief check-ins or when typing feels easier. These options offer flexibility for scheduling and for fitting sessions into everyday life.