About Valerie
Valerie Novak is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who brings ten years of clinical experience to her work in California. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship and parenting concerns.
Background and approach
Her style is straightforward and supportive, inviting people to use their own strengths as the basis for change. Valerie centers therapy on the person’s story.
She uses Attachment-Based and Client-Centered ideas to build trust and understand how past relationships shape present behavior. In sessions she listens closely and follows the pace the client sets, helping them notice patterns that cause pain.
She also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people spot unhelpful thoughts and test new ways of thinking and acting. For trauma and distress tied to painful memories, she can use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing techniques alongside narrative work to help people put memories in a different context.
Valerie works with a wide range of concerns including grief, addictions, anger, self-esteem, caregiver stress, and life transitions. She helps people tackle communication problems, attachment wounds, and issues tied to adoption or aging.
Sessions often blend practical tools with reflective conversation so clients can use changes in daily life. Therapy with Valerie typically feels practical and grounded.
She encourages small experiments between sessions and focuses on steps people can try right away. The approach aims to reduce distress and strengthen coping for everyday life.
How Valerie’s Approaches Work Online
Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current patterns. Online sessions explore those patterns, helping people notice how they relate to others and make different choices in relationships.Client-Centered Therapy centers the person’s experience and priorities. The therapist listens without judgment, follows the client's lead, and supports goals the client identifies, which can help with stress, self-esteem, and life changes.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, used as needed, helps people identify unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. This approach suits anxiety, mood concerns, and practical problems by offering clear strategies to practice between sessions.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about needs, history, and what feels most helpful, then adjust methods based on progress and preference. Clients are invited to give feedback and shape the plan as work unfolds.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect. Video calls allow a face-to-face conversation when visual cues matter. Phone sessions can fit a short break or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging work well for brief check-ins, coaching-style support, or when writing helps people organize thoughts. These options help people fit therapy into busy lives and keep momentum between appointments.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English