About Leslie
Leslie Patricia Acoca uses an approach rooted in relationship and practical skills. She combines attachment-based thinking with evidence-informed techniques to help people manage stress, anxiety, grief, and relationship strain.
Background and approach
Leslie is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 20 years of clinical experience. Leslie creates a warm, trusting space where people can say what feels hard.
She listens for patterns in relationships and reactions, then helps clients try new ways of connecting and coping. Sessions focus on small, doable changes that make everyday life feel more manageable.
Her work addresses trauma and abuse, addiction concerns, and the complicated grief that follows losing someone to suicide. She also helps with intimacy-related issues, infidelity, jealousy, and the stresses that come with parenting.
Multicultural concerns and veteran and armed forces issues are included among her areas of focus. Leslie draws from client-centered methods to follow each person’s pace, and uses cognitive behavioral ideas to identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors.
She also integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills and relationship-focused tools when they fit the goals of the work. Sessions are offered in English and are adaptable to different life rhythms.
Leslie supports people navigating career changes, compassion fatigue, and the emotional demands of hospice and end-of-life situations. She aims to help clients build clearer choices and stronger daily routines.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Leslie often combines attachment-based ideas with cognitive behavioral techniques. Attachment-based work looks at how early patterns shape current relationships and helps people test new, more supported ways of relating. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and trying practical behavior changes to reduce anxiety and improve mood.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Leslie collaborates with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and comfort level. That means trying things out together and adjusting the plan as progress and preferences become clear.
Online therapy can make this process easier to fit into daily life. Video calls allow fuller interaction for relationship work, phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is low, and live chat or text-based messaging offer brief check-ins or skill reinforcement between longer sessions. These options create flexibility so people can maintain continuity of care around work, caregiving, or travel.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English