Lesli Brown
I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with nearly two decades of experience helping adults navigate anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, and life transitions. I believe therapy is an opportunity to better understand yourself, explore the experiences that have shaped you, and create meaningful change. My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and directive when helpful. I value honesty, kindness, and genuine connection. I’ll listen without judgment, ask thoughtful questions, and offer insight and guidance to help you recognize patterns, gain new perspectives, and explore new ways of responding to life’s challenges.
My goal is to help you better understand the experiences that have shaped you, the patterns you carry into your relationships, and the parts of yourself that may be difficult to understand or accept. From that understanding, we can begin exploring what you want to change and what you want to carry forward
I draw from several evidence-based and insight-oriented approaches, including Internal Family Systems (IFS) Parts Work, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), person-centered therapy, and psychodynamic therapy. I tailor our work to your unique experiences and goals, helping you understand how past experiences and relationships may influence your present thoughts, emotions, and connections with others. You may be feeling stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected from yourself, or uncertain about what comes next. You don’t need to have everything figured out to begin. My goal is to help you feel understood while also encouraging self-reflection, new perspectives, and meaningful growth. Together, we can work toward greater self-awareness, healthier relationships, and a more fulfilling life. One detail I’d keep is the phrase “help you feel understood while also encouraging self-reflection.” It captures the balance you’ve described between being compassionate and kind while also being honest, thoughtful, and directive when it benefits the client.
First session
Your first session is an opportunity to share what brings you to therapy, discuss your goals, and begin getting to know one another. You can expect a compassionate, nonjudgmental space where you can speak openly, ask questions, and explore your concerns without pressure to have everything figured out. We’ll begin identifying what matters most to you and consider how we can work together toward meaningful change. My hope is that you leave feeling heard, understood, and more hopeful, with a clearer sense of how therapy can support you. The first session is also a chance for us to determine whether we’re a good fit to work together.
Strengths
My strength lies in building authentic connections with clients while offering a balance of compassion, honesty, and thoughtful guidance. I strive to create a space where clients feel understood while also feeling supported in exploring difficult truths and challenging familiar patterns. I balance empathy with thoughtful questions, insight, and direction to help clients deepen self-awareness and create meaningful, lasting change.
Ideal clients
My ideal clients are adults who want to better understand themselves, their relationships, and the patterns that may be keeping them stuck. They may be navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, or significant life transitions. They are open to self-reflection, willing to explore how past experiences influence their present, and interested in developing new perspectives, healthier connections, and a stronger sense of self. They don’t need to have all the answers, just a willingness to be curious about themselves and consider new possibilities for growth and change.
Treatment methods
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
I use Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) principles to help clients identify and understand their emotions, recognize the needs beneath them, and develop skills to regulate emotional responses. Together, we explore how emotions and attachment patterns influence thoughts, behaviors, and relationships. This process supports greater emotional awareness, healthier responses to difficult feelings, and more meaningful connections with self and others.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I use Internal Family Systems (IFS) Parts Work to help clients understand the different parts of themselves that influence their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Together, we explore these parts with curiosity and compassion, recognizing how they may have developed to protect us from difficult experiences. This process helps clients reduce inner conflict, respond to themselves with greater understanding, and develop a stronger connection to their core sense of self.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients understand how their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors influence one another, particularly when navigating anxiety. Together, we identify and challenge catastrophic thinking patterns, explore more balanced and realistic perspectives, and develop practical strategies for managing worry and emotional distress. This approach helps clients recognize unhelpful thought patterns, feel more confident in responding to uncertainty, and develop healthier ways of coping with life’s challenges.
Psychodynamic
I use a psychodynamic approach to help clients explore how past experiences, early relationships, and unconscious patterns may influence their present thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Together, we examine recurring themes and relationship dynamics to deepen self-awareness and understand the roots of emotional challenges. This process can help clients gain new perspectives, make sense of longstanding patterns, and create meaningful change in how they relate to themselves and others.
EMDR
I use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients process distressing experiences that may continue to affect their emotions, beliefs, and responses in the present. Through a structured approach that incorporates bilateral stimulation, we work to reduce the emotional intensity associated with difficult memories and experiences. EMDR can help clients develop more adaptive beliefs about themselves, feel less overwhelmed by past events, and move forward with greater emotional resilience and a stronger sense of safety.