About Lesley
Lesley Schwam is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who uses practical, goal-focused methods to help people move forward. She draws on 12 years of clinical experience in California to guide clients through stressful or painful life moments.
Background and approach
Her style is straightforward and task-oriented, aimed at producing small changes that add up over time. Lesley works with people facing anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and addiction concerns.
She also supports those dealing with relationship and intimacy issues, career transitions, anger, and the everyday strain of caregiving. She pays attention to how problems affect daily routines and relationships, and starts there.
In early sessions she helps clients build basic coping skills and self-care habits. She teaches short-term strategies for anxiety and panic, and practical ways to set boundaries and communicate needs.
Sessions often include setting clear short- and long-term goals and measuring progress toward them. Her approach blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which looks at the link between thoughts, feelings and actions, with Solution-Focused Therapy, which targets concrete steps for change.
Together these methods are used to address issues like body image, blended family stress, chronic illness, and addiction-related concerns. Lesley believes people can change small behaviors every day.
She helps clients find manageable solutions and practice them between sessions. The aim is steady progress toward the goals each person sets for their life.
How Lesley’s Approaches Work Online
Lesley uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Solution-Focused Therapy to address practical problems and help clients make changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people notice the connections between thoughts, feelings, and actions and then try new behaviors to reduce anxiety, depression, or panic. Solution-Focused Therapy concentrates on identifying small, achievable steps and building on what already works to move toward life goals.Deciding on an approach is a collaborative process. The therapist and client review needs, goals, and personal preferences together and choose techniques that fit the situation. Plans are adjusted as progress is tracked so sessions stay focused on what matters most to the client.
Online therapy formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a good fit when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text sessions work well for quick updates, reminders, or when typing feels easier than talking. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and keep work on goals between sessions.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English