Alaina Bigger , LISW, LCSW

Alaina Bigger is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people tackle stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship and family concerns. She also supports people facing parenting challenges, anger, self-esteem struggles, career transitions, ADHD, and life changes. Alaina practices from California and brings 14 years of professional experience to her work.

Her sessions are straightforward and practical. She listens first, then helps people name what matters most. Together they set small, clear goals and try manageable steps between sessions. Alaina emphasizes strengths and uses approaches that focus on thoughts, patterns, and relationships.

Alaina draws on Cognitive Behavioral ideas to help people notice thinking patterns and try different responses. She also uses psychodynamic concepts to look at repeating life patterns that affect mood and relationships. Systemic ideas guide work on family roles and communication when that’s relevant.

People meet her for help with adoption and foster care issues, blended family stress, commitment or communication problems, divorce or separation, and feelings like guilt, shame, or isolation. She also supports those managing mood disorders, seasonal changes, social anxiety, impulsivity, and self-harm concerns.

Her style is collaborative and respectful. She treats people as the experts on their lives and offers tools they can try between sessions. The aim is steady, realistic change rather than quick fixes.

Approaches and online therapy options

Alaina uses a few evidence-based approaches to guide online work. Cognitive Behavioral ideas focus on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing new actions to reduce anxiety and low mood. Psychodynamic concepts help people notice repeating patterns from past experience that affect current relationships and feelings. Systemic thinking looks at roles and communication in family or household systems to improve how people relate to one another.

Choosing the right approach is part of the process. She will talk with each person about goals, history, and preferences, then try methods that fit. Decisions are collaborative and can shift as needs change over time.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls let people use visual cues and longer sessions. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Live chat and text-based messaging let people share between calls or when a written option fits their schedule. These formats make it easier to fit therapy around work, parenting, and busy days while keeping the focus on practical steps and steady progress.