Barbara Defazzio , LMHC

Barbara Defazzio is a Florida-licensed mental health counselor with 40 years of professional experience. She brings long experience handling trauma, stress, anxiety, grief, and family conflict. Her approach is calm and matter-of-fact, aimed at helping people take small steps that add up to real change.

She spent over two decades running a private practice in Massachusetts and developed deep experience treating sexual and physical abuse. Since relocating to Florida she has continued that work and has supported people who grew up in the foster care system. She also has experience helping with post-adoption challenges and the process of blending a child into a family.

In sessions she uses practical, person-focused methods that center the client's goals. She helps people talk through painful memories, learn skills to manage anxiety, and find ways to cope with loss and life transitions. She favors approaches that emphasize collaboration and clear steps forward.

Barbara often addresses issues that commonly affect women, including trauma, grief, shame, and the stresses of caregiving. She also helps people work through family of origin concerns, communication breakdowns, and feelings of isolation.

Her work combines elements of client-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral strategies, motivational interviewing, and trauma-focused techniques. The aim is straightforward: understand what matters to the client, set achievable goals, and practice tools that make daily life easier.

How her approaches translate to online care

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and responding to what the client says. It emphasizes the person's perspective and helps build a trusting, collaborative relationship that guides session goals. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to manage anxiety and stress. Trauma-focused therapy concentrates on processing traumatic memories and learning techniques to reduce symptoms related to past abuse or loss.

Finding the right approach is a shared process. The therapist will talk with clients about their concerns, goals, and preferences and adapt methods as needed. Together they pick techniques that feel useful and workable for daily life rather than imposing a single plan from the start.

Online sessions offer several practical advantages. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when in-person meetings are not possible. Phone sessions can be a good fit when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging support shorter check-ins, brief skill practice, and flexible communication around work or caregiving schedules. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives while using the same therapeutic methods as in-person work.