Steven Osterstrom

Steven Osterstrom is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in New York with 24 years of clinical experience. He offers a warm, interactive style and focuses on helping people who feel stuck by teaching practical skills and gentle self-reflection. Steven often works with stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, and anger, and he helps people facing relationship and parenting challenges.

He believes what we tell ourselves about our past shapes how we feel now. In sessions he helps clients notice unhelpful thinking and habit patterns. He uses mindfulness practices and behavior-focused strategies to help people respond differently to old triggers.

Steven draws from several evidence-based approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Client-Centered Therapy, and Mindfulness Therapy. He aims to match methods to each person’s goals and pace instead of pushing one fixed path.

Beyond direct practice, he has taught social work graduate students for many years and has run group work in correctional programs. Those experiences inform his work with diverse backgrounds and life stories. He emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and a gender-inclusive stance while helping clients build on their strengths.

His sessions focus on concrete steps people can try between meetings, clearer communication, and ways to manage intense emotions. Steven supports clients who want to do the hard work of change and build more balanced, meaningful lives.

How his approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on noticing thoughts and choosing values-based actions instead of getting stuck in unhelpful thinking. ACT can help with anxiety, anger, and life transitions by clarifying what matters and building small, committed steps. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and offers concrete tools to change unhelpful patterns; it is often used for depression, anxiety, and coping with stress. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and improve emotion regulation, which supports work on anger and trauma-related symptoms.

Finding the right mix of methods is part of the process. The therapist works collaboratively to match approaches to a person's goals, pace, and preferences. Clients and the therapist review what helps and adjust methods as needed rather than following a single fixed plan.

The biography does not list specific session formats here, so please confirm current session options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life by removing travel time and allowing sessions to be scheduled around work or caregiving. It can also allow for shorter check-ins when needed and make it easier to maintain continuity during life changes. Licensed professionals can use these methods effectively online while helping people practice skills between sessions and apply them in everyday situations.