Laura White, LCSW-R

Laura White is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-R) based in New York with four decades of experience. She uses a straightforward, person-centered approach that helps people name problems and set clear, manageable goals. Laura combines practical strategies with steady support so clients feel heard and make real changes.

Her work often draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help people shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. She also uses client-centered techniques and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills when emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness are priorities. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and mindfulness tools are options for people coping with trauma and stress.

Laura has worked in diverse settings since 1980, starting as a research assistant at Suffolk County Jail and later expanding into clinical social work and gerontology studies. That long experience informs a calm, practical style suited to complex situations like chronic illness, caregiving stress, addiction, and grief. She understands how life events and health problems can affect mood and daily functioning.

She supports people facing depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, trauma, substance issues, eating concerns, intimacy and relationship challenges, parenting strain, and work or career stress. Additional focus areas include abandonment, adoption and foster care, aging and geriatric issues, blended families, body image, cancer, chronic pain and disability, codependency, and dissociation.

Laura offers a collaborative process. She helps clients identify strengths, build coping skills, and create plans they can use between sessions. Sessions are practical, paced to each person, and aimed at steady progress.

Online approaches that focus on skills and healing

Laura uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify and adjust thoughts and behaviors that contribute to distress; CBT is often useful for anxiety, depression, and managing ADHD symptoms. She also draws on Client-Centered Therapy, which emphasizes listening, empathy, and building on a person's strengths to set meaningful goals. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills are used when managing intense emotions, improving tolerance for distress, and strengthening communication and boundary-setting.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss options and tailor techniques to each person's goals, needs, and comfort level. Clients and the therapist work together to try strategies, track what helps, and adjust the plan over time.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is low or a simpler check-in is needed, live chat can offer quick interactions during a break, and messaging supports ongoing reflection and brief updates between sessions. These formats give flexibility to fit therapy into busy lives and different schedules.