Geraldine Leary, LCSW

Geraldine Leary is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with thirty years of practice in Arizona who helps people facing depression, anxiety, addiction, grief, and relationship strain. She supports those coping with parenting stress, self-esteem issues, trauma, bipolar challenges, and major life changes. Geraldine aims to meet people where they are and offers calm, practical guidance when life feels overwhelming.

She uses a client-centered approach and draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused techniques. Sessions focus on identifying strengths, noticing unhelpful patterns, and building concrete steps to move forward. Geraldine emphasizes learning skills to quiet the mind and stay present in daily life.

Her style is direct but respectful, and she describes her method as collaborative. She listens for the internal dialogue that shapes choices and helps people create goals that fit their values. The process includes clear plans and small, measurable actions to reach those goals.

Geraldine has worked in outpatient, residential, in-home, and hospital settings with a wide age range. That variety informs how she adapts methods to each person’s situation. She often uses individual and group formats and can include family or parenting topics when relevant to an individual's goals.

For people who are ready to try therapy, she focuses on practical progress rather than theory. Geraldine aims to help clients open a new chapter by using strategies matched to their needs and pace.

Practical approaches for online therapy and real-life change

Geraldine often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy in her online practice. CBT helps people spot and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors with concrete exercises and homework. DBT teaches emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills to manage strong feelings and reduce reactive patterns.

She also works from a client-centered stance that emphasizes listening and shaping therapy around each person's values and goals. Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process; the therapist will talk with the client about needs, preferences, and practical goals and then adapt methods as progress unfolds.

Online therapy offers several practical benefits for this work. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and demonstrations of skills practice. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth or camera use is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging make brief check-ins and coaching tools more accessible between longer sessions. These options help fit therapy into busy schedules and different daily rhythms.