Sue (Susie) Swartz, LMFT

Sue (Susie) Swartz is a licensed marriage and family therapist who helps people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, depression, addiction, and parenting or relationship strains. She emphasizes practical steps and clear goals to help people manage urgent problems and cope with big life changes.

Sue uses a client-centered style that starts by listening to each person's story and strengths. From there she blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy techniques to address unhelpful thoughts and build values-driven action. Sessions are typically straightforward and focused on things people can try between meetings.

Her approach values honesty and steady progress. She encourages small experiments, skill practice, and realistic adjustments rather than quick fixes. People can expect direct guidance along with space to reflect and decide what matters most to them.

Sue brings a decade of clinical experience to her practice in California. That time includes work in trauma response, crisis intervention, and victim advocacy, and it shaped how she supports people navigating loss, complicated bereavement, and long-term stress.

She pays attention to attachment patterns and family dynamics when those issues show up. This can include concerns related to adoption and foster care, abandonment, blended family stress, caregiver burden, or communication problems. Sue frames her work around practical tools and steady support while clients build clearer routines and healthier habits.

Sessions use talk, behavioral experiments, and skills practice drawn from evidence-informed approaches. The work moves at a pace set by the person seeking help, with an emphasis on usable strategies and real-life changes.

How Sue blends approaches for online care

Sue commonly draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in her online work. CBT involves identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with real-world experiments to reduce symptoms like anxiety and depression. ACT helps people clarify what matters to them and build small actions that align with those values even when emotions are difficult.

She also uses Attachment-Based ideas to notice patterns in close relationships and to help people change reactive habits. That often means looking at how past losses or family history shape current behavior and practicing new ways to connect and communicate.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Sue will collaborate with each person to pick methods that match their goals, preferences, and daily life. She will suggest short-term experiments and then adjust based on what helps most, so therapy stays practical and personalized.

Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video calls allow deeper conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a simpler way to check in when bandwidth or camera time is limited. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief check-ins, skill prompts, and ongoing support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or busy schedules.