Cira Kelley, LCSW

Cira Kelley is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people manage stress, anxiety, relationship strain, grief, and big life changes. She offers straightforward support for parenting stress, self-esteem struggles, ADHD concerns, and recovery from trauma and abuse. Her style is calm and collaborative, aimed at practical steps you can use between sessions.

With 25 years of practice in New York, she draws on multiple approaches to match what a person needs. Sessions focus on improving communication, coping skills, and emotional understanding. Cira helps people notice patterns, try new behaviors, and set realistic goals.

She combines cognitive behavioral techniques with attention to attachment and emotional experience. That means helping people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors while also looking at how early relationships shape current reactions. Mindfulness and client-centered methods are woven in to keep work grounded in the client’s values and pace.

Cira often addresses concerns tied to family of origin, adoption and foster care, blended family issues, and caregiver stress. She also supports people dealing with abandonment, commitment or control difficulties, body image, and intimacy-related problems.

Sessions are practical and paced to each person’s needs. Expect clear tools, space to process feelings, and collaborative planning for next steps.

How therapy approaches translate to online care

CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and replacing them with more effective patterns; it is often used for anxiety, depression, stress, and ADHD-related challenges. Attachment-based work looks at how early relationships shape current reactions and helps people build healthier ways of relating to themselves and others. Client-centered therapy emphasizes a nonjudgmental, empathetic stance where the therapist follows the client’s pace and priorities, which supports self-exploration and confidence building.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, try methods that fit those goals, and adjust as progress unfolds. Sessions include collaboration on practical steps and regular check-ins to make sure the work feels useful and relevant.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, giving options for different needs. Video sessions allow face-to-face interaction for deeper emotional work. Phone sessions can be a simpler option with lower bandwidth needs or when hands-free focus is preferred. Chat and messaging are useful for brief check-ins, tracking goals, or fitting therapy into a busy schedule. These choices make it easier to keep continuity and practice new skills between sessions.