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- Attachment-based work
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Bilingual English Spanish
About Margarita
Margarita Araiza-Johnston, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), holds licenses in Hawaii and California and has ten years of clinical experience. She practices in New Mexico and works with common concerns such as depression, anxiety, stress, parenting and relationship issues. She uses attachment-based work, cognitive behavioral ideas, emotionally-focused methods, motivational interviewing and narrative techniques to help people talk through problems and make changes.
She began with a BA in sociology and anthropology and a minor in French from the University of Redlands. She earned a Master of Social Work from Tulane University. Her early roles included hospice social work and crisis and suicide counseling in Louisiana. Those settings shaped her skills in assessment and crisis response.
Her background also includes mediation training in family law and practice. She has experience with child abuse and neglect cases and family systems work. She offers bilingual support in English and Spanish and has worked across Illinois, California, Louisiana and New Mexico.
Margarita focuses on a wide range of issues that often overlap in daily life. These include parenting, family problems, grief, intimacy-related difficulties, ADHD, compassion fatigue and career concerns. She also works with attachment issues, codependency, communication challenges and control issues.
She addresses more sensitive topics such as domestic violence, divorce and separation, fertility struggles, BDSM and kink concerns, and forgiveness, guilt and shame. Her approach is practical: she helps people identify patterns, try new ways of relating, and plan small steps they can use between sessions.
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How her approaches translate to online work
Margarita uses attachment-based ideas to look at how people form and maintain close relationships. That work focuses on recognizing patterns in relationships and practicing new ways of connecting, which can be discussed and tried in session for relationship and intimacy concerns.She also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which breaks problems into thoughts, feelings and actions. CBT sessions include identifying unhelpful thoughts, testing them, and planning small behavior changes to reduce anxiety or depression.
Emotionally-Focused Therapy is part of her toolkit for helping people name emotions and change interaction patterns. It is useful for couples and individuals working on closeness, communication and grief-related concerns.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. She will collaborate with clients to choose methods that fit their goals and preferences and may mix approaches if that helps. Clients and therapist review what works and adjust over time.
Session formats are not specified in the biography, so confirm current session options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and avoid travel time. Licensed professionals can offer comparable therapeutic conversations and skill practice through remote appointments, with scheduling that often fits work, family and caregiving routines.
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
10+ years
Listed in
New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas, California
Languages
English, Spanish
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Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she address?
She works with depression, anxiety, stress, parenting and relationship concerns as well as grief, intimacy-related issues, anger and self-esteem problems.
How does she approach therapy?
She uses attachment-based approaches alongside cognitive behavioral ideas, emotionally-focused work, motivational interviewing and narrative methods to help people change patterns and solve problems.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has ten years of clinical experience, including work in hospice care and suicide and crisis counseling.
Where is she licensed and based?
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) licensed in Hawaii and California and practices in New Mexico.
Does she offer sessions in other languages?
Sessions are offered in English and Spanish.
Are international clients supported?
International clients are not currently accepted.
What does therapy cost and how are sessions billed?
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, call 911, or call or text 988.