- Attachment work
- CBT techniques
- Mindfulness practice
About Valerie
Valerie Farrell is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in New York with 28 years of experience. She works with adults on stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief, and offers coaching. Valerie describes attention to how family patterns and early relationships shape current life.
She helps people notice how habits from the family they grew up in show up now. She talks through attachment questions, feelings of abandonment, and how past losses affect daily decisions. Practical coping for chronic illness, caregiver stress, and grief is part of the work she offers.
Valerie uses a mix of approaches in conversation. She draws on attachment-based ideas to look at close relationships. She uses cognitive behavioral tools for changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Mindfulness practices may be used to build steady attention and calm.
Her background includes long experience with substance use and co-occurring concerns such as eating issues, dissociation, and codependency. She also supports people dealing with aging, cancer, and other long-term medical issues who want to manage stress and emotional strain.
Sessions focus on clear goals and step-by-step skills when useful. She also makes room to talk through deeper patterns coming from family of origin and developmental stages. The aim is to help people make concrete changes and recognize choices they can act on.
To begin, she asks people to describe current struggles and what they hope to change. From there she and the client decide what approaches and steps feel most practical.
Approaches used in remote sessions
Valerie commonly draws on attachment-based work to look at patterns in close relationships. That approach focuses on how early bonds influence current trust, closeness, and emotional responses, and it can help when family-of-origin issues still shape decisions and roles.She also uses client-centered methods that prioritize what the person brings to each session. This means the conversation follows the client's concerns and goals, with the therapist reflecting and asking questions to clarify next steps. Cognitive behavioral techniques are used to identify and shift thoughts and behaviors that keep stress and anxiety active, useful for tackling panic, worry, or habits tied to substance use.
Finding the right mixture of approaches is part of the work. Valerie will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels helpful. Together they decide whether to focus more on skills, insight about family patterns, or a mix of both.
Session formats are not listed in the biography, so please confirm current options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy day, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises for a virtual setting, for example using brief mindfulness practices or CBT worksheets during a session.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
28+ years
Listed in
New York
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief, and coaching. Additional focus areas include attachment issues, abandonment, caregiver stress, chronic illness, and codependency.
What is her therapeutic style?
She combines attachment-based, client-centered, cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing approaches. Sessions blend practical skills with exploration of family patterns.
How much experience does she have?
She has 28 years of clinical experience working with adults on a range of emotional and behavioral concerns.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) licensed in New York and practices there.
Which languages are supported?
Sessions are offered in English.
Does she work with international clients?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are fees and payment handled?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I start a first session?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger, use the emergency numbers. Looking for someone else? Find them by surname.