Dr. Joanna Kristeva, LCSW, LISW

Dr. Joanna Kristeva uses cognitive behavioral therapy as the foundation of her work. She keeps sessions practical and focused on clear skills. Parents reading on a phone will find short, direct guidance and a calm, steady presence in sessions.

She brings 12 years of clinical experience and holds a doctorate in philosophy along with postgraduate study at New York University. She is a licensed clinical social worker in New York and a licensed independent social worker in Ohio - LCSW and LISW. Her training also includes focused work on trauma and complicated grief at Columbia University.

In sessions she helps people handle trauma, grief, depression, and low self-esteem. She also supports those facing big life changes, feelings of abandonment, and struggles with attachment or dissociation. Conversations move from understanding to practical strategies people can use day-to-day.

Her approach blends cognitive behavioral techniques with elements from dialectical behavior therapy, Jungian ideas, and psychodynamic perspectives. That mix is used to tailor work to each person’s history and current goals. Expect to learn tools for emotion regulation, thought patterns, and coping skills.

Dr. Kristeva has published peer-reviewed articles and books and draws on research in her practice. She aims to make therapy feel manageable and useful, so people leave sessions with concrete steps they can try between meetings.

How therapy approaches translate to online care

Dr. Kristeva commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy in her online work. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with practical experiments; it is useful for depression, low self-esteem, and coping with life changes. DBT emphasizes skills for managing strong emotions, improving distress tolerance, and building more effective interpersonal behavior.

She also draws on trauma-focused methods when past harm affects daily functioning, helping people process difficult memories and rebuild safety in their lives. The therapist will discuss these approaches with each person and together decide which methods match the issue at hand and personal preferences.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and skill demonstrations. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or for a quick check-in. Live chat and texting let people share between sessions or check in when a brief exchange is more practical. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and to continue work when in-person visits are not an option.