Lisa Rakusin

Lisa Rakusin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in California with 11 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, grief, trauma, and life transitions. Lisa aims to create a space where clients feel heard and can use their strengths to move forward.

She describes clients as the experts in their own lives and offers support and guidance rather than prescriptions. Sessions are collaborative and paced to match each person’s goals. Lisa emphasizes practical steps and steady progress over time.

Her work includes helping people cope with relationship strain, anger, parenting challenges, and issues tied to self-esteem and career change. She also supports those dealing with addictions, compassion fatigue, and mood concerns. Aging and geriatric issues, family of origin patterns, and forgiveness work are additional areas she addresses.

Therapeutic methods Lisa draws on include attachment-based approaches, client-centered work, cognitive behavioral therapy, emotionally-focused methods, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. She blends these tools to fit the situation and the person in front of her. Her style is straightforward and empathetic.

Sessions are conducted in English and take place with her California license in mind. Lisa encourages people to take the first step when they are ready and to use their strengths as the foundation for change.

How her approaches translate to online work

Attachment-based work looks at how past and present relationships shape current feelings and reactions, and it helps people notice patterns that affect closeness and trust. Client-centered therapy focuses on listening without judgment and helping the person lead the pace and topics of each session. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) breaks down upsetting thoughts and behaviors into smaller parts and tests new ways of thinking and acting to reduce distress.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapy process. Lisa will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That choice can change over time as new issues come up or progress is made.

For practical session planning, confirm the current online session options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit visits into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow for more flexible scheduling around work or caregiving. Some formats also make shorter check-ins or camera-free conversations simpler, depending on what the therapist and client decide to use.