Richard Strand, LCSW

Richard Strand is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in New York who helps people handle stress, anxiety, trauma, addiction, and life changes. He brings a calm, steady presence to sessions and works with clients on clear, achievable goals.

He focuses on what is happening now and how it connects to your life story. Sessions look at daily routines, relationships, and past events that shape how you feel and act. He uses practical tools to reduce symptoms and improve coping skills.

Richard has 25 years of experience in the field. He combines client-centered care with cognitive behavioral strategies and motivational interviewing to tailor work to each person. He also draws on dialectical skills and EMDR when they fit the situation.

He supports people facing grief, parenting strain, career stress, compassion fatigue, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, and challenges around attachment or abandonment. He also addresses substance use and the emotional effects of disasters and caregiving roles.

Sessions are offered in English and Spanish and can be done online by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging. Richard accepts international clients and uses an initial assessment to shape a plan that matches the client's goals and pace.

His aim is a collaborative relationship that helps clients build skills, feel more in control, and make steady progress toward the life they want.

How therapy approaches translate to online care

Richard blends cognitive behavioral therapy and client-centered work to help people change unhelpful thoughts and build concrete skills. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying thought patterns and testing new behaviors to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. Client-centered work emphasizes listening, empathy, and letting the client set the pace and goals for therapy.

He also uses elements of dialectical behavior therapy when regulating intense emotions is important. DBT skills teach steadier emotional responses, better distress tolerance, and clearer communication. Together these approaches give a mix of practical skill-building and supportive conversation to address trauma, addiction, grief, and life transitions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. He will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and then shape the plan collaboratively. That allows the methods to be adjusted over time if something is not working or needs to shift.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to match different rhythms of life. Video is useful for in-depth conversations and skills practice, phone can suit a quick check-in or lower bandwidth situations, and messaging or live chat work well for brief support or ongoing coaching between sessions. These options make therapy easier to fit into busy schedules and different time zones.