Dr. Paula Alvarez, LCSW

Dr. Paula Alvarez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 35 years of experience. She is licensed in California, Illinois, and Missouri and works with adults on a wide range of concerns including anger, anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, and life changes. She also addresses relationship and intimacy issues, parenting challenges, grief, career concerns, and questions about identity and purpose.

Her background includes long-term work in locked and outpatient mental health settings. She ran group treatment for domestic violence perpetrators for eight years in both English and Spanish. Her doctoral degree in Organizational Psychology informs how she thinks about systems, leadership, and change in people’s lives.

In sessions she uses a client-centered stance that treats the person as the expert on their life. She offers cognitive-behavioral interventions when they fit the person’s goals, and she includes homework and reading suggestions for those who want practical steps between meetings. She also uses acceptance and commitment ideas and skills from dialectical behavior therapy as needed.

People who come for help with anger can expect straightforward, skills-focused work alongside conversation about underlying stress, trauma, or relationship patterns. She blends short-term problem-focused tools with deeper work when that is helpful.

Her experience spans clinical, group, and organizational settings, which she draws on when helping people change patterns that affect work, family, or daily routine. Sessions are conducted in English, and she accepts international clients. Confirm current session options before booking.

Therapeutic approaches used in remote sessions