LCSW, 5 years of experience
Hi, my name is Olivia Raines, and I provide services in both North Carolina and Florida. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker devoted to helping individuals heal from painful experiences and reconnect with a sense of balance, meaning, and self-trust. I am deeply passionate about creating a safe, supportive space where you can share openly, explore your emotions, and begin to move toward wholeness. I work collaboratively with individuals as they process their experiences, understand their patterns, and build the tools needed for lasting well-being. My therapeutic environment is secure, compassionate, and grounded in a strengths-based, motivational approach that honors your resilience while supporting your growth. My practice focuses on individual therapy, with specialization in anxiety, panic disorder, trauma, depression, relationship difficulties, and substance use disorder. One of my favorite reflections comes from Carl Jung: “Depression is like a woman in black. If she turns up, don’t shoo her away. Invite her in, offer her a seat, treat her like a guest, and listen to what she wants to say.” As a therapist, my goal is to help you face discomfort within a safe, compassionate environment. Instead, of avoiding what hurts, you can understand it, work through it, and ultimately transform your relationship with it. I look forward to supporting your journey and helping you work toward optimal mental health and a deeper sense of personal wholeness.
Your first session is a gentle beginning—an opportunity for us to get to know each other and create the foundation for our work together. My priority is to offer a space where you feel safe, understood, and unhurried. During this session, we will talk about what brought you to therapy and what you’re hoping to gain from our time together. You’re welcome to share as much or as little as feels comfortable; there is no pressure to go into your full story right away. I’ll ask thoughtful, guiding questions to better understand your experiences, your current concerns, and what support looks like for you. We will also explore your goals—whether you already have them in mind or need help identifying them. This is a collaborative process where we begin to shape a plan tailored specifically to your needs, strengths, and personal pace. I’ll share with you the therapeutic approaches I use, discuss what might fit best for your situation, and answer any questions you may have. Most importantly, the first session is about connection. It’s a chance for you to get a sense of my style, ask anything you’re wondering about therapy, and see how it feels to be in this space with me. There is no expectation for perfection, readiness, or having everything figured out—just an invitation to show up as you are. By the end of our session, you’ll have a clearer sense of what working together will look like and the next steps on your path toward healing. My goal is for you to leave feeling heard, supported, and grounded in the understanding that you do not have to navigate this journey alone.
What stands out about my therapeutic approach is the balance of deep understanding, genuine compassion, and intentional action. I work collaboratively with you to identify the root cause of your challenges, offering a non-judgmental space where you feel seen, supported, and encouraged toward self-acceptance and wholeness. My work is grounded in a person-centered approach, meaning your unique experiences, needs, and strengths guide our sessions. I meet you exactly where you are, honoring your pace while helping you move toward meaningful growth. I also integrate motivational interviewing to empower your own insight, motivation, and readiness for change. Together, we explore the therapeutic modality that best fits your goals—whether you’re navigating relationship patterns, managing anxiety, processing trauma, working through depression, or seeking deeper emotional clarity. My role is to adapt the therapeutic process to you, creating a supportive yet action-oriented environment that helps you heal, grow, and move forward in a way that feels authentic and sustainable.
I bring experience from working in mental health and substance use treatment programs, as well as outpatient behavioral health settings. Throughout my work, I’ve supported individuals who are navigating the lasting impact of childhood experiences and how those experiences show up in adulthood—whether through relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression, substance use, or challenges in daily functioning, thinking patterns, and emotional well-being. In therapy, my role is to help you understand these patterns with compassion and clarity, while guiding you toward the goals that matter most to you. Together, we will identify what you want to change, what you want to strengthen, and what you want to heal. I provide structured support, practical tools, and a grounded therapeutic presence to help you move forward at a pace that feels safe and meaningful. My aim is to partner with you in creating lasting change, building confidence, and moving toward a more balanced, empowered, and fulfilling life.
I utilized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a tool for others to identify their childhood schemas and experiences to become aware of negative or inaccurate thinking so they can respond to challenging situations more effectively.
I utilize CPT as a modality for individuals feeling "stuck" in their trauma narrative. This allows people to recognize how trauma has changed their thoughts about themselves, others, and the world. They learn to evaluate and change upsetting thoughts, and consider new, more balanced perspectives.
I utilize DBT as an intervention that helps people manage intense emotions and social relationships
I utilized Motivational interviewing as a technique that helps people find the motivation to change their behavior by resolving insecurities and ambivalent feelings. It's a short-term, practical, and empathetic process that acknowledges the difficulty of making life changes. MI is based on the idea that clients have the ability to change successfully and that their belief in their ability to do so, or self-efficacy, is necessary to instill hope.
Schema theory is a branch of cognitive science that studies how the brain organizes knowledge into mental frameworks called schemas. Schemas are clusters of knowledge or memory based on past experiences that help people interpret information, make generalizations, and guide their actions and understanding.
2 ratings with written reviews
May 13, 2025
I came to Olivia seeking help for social anxiety and adjusting to major life changes. Since starting sessions, I have experienced significant improvements in both of these areas. Olivia made me feel comfortable opening up about my struggles with mental health and has offered very useful guidance for my concerns. I would recommend Olivia to anyone in need of therapy related to the same problems I had, or any other mental health concerns.
April 7, 2025
Olivia has always been very welcoming and warm. Sessions with her are never intimidating and they are like talking to a friend - a friend who has very intentional guidance and advice. She has provided me with very useful ideas and strategies to work on.