Betty Laird , LCSW

Betty Laird is a licensed clinical social worker with four decades of practice in Indiana. She draws on long experience to listen closely and help people name what feels heavy. Her style is steady, warm, and straightforward. She creates a calm, nonjudgmental space where people can talk about stress, anxiety, grief, depression, trauma, and relationship concerns. Sessions often focus on understanding patterns and finding practical steps to feel more able in day-to-day life. Betty also supports people facing compassion fatigue, parenting pressures, and identity concerns related to being LGBT. Background in social work guides her attention to relationships and attachment. She often uses client-centered and attachment-based ideas to help people feel heard and understood. Cognitive behavioral techniques are used when clients want tools to change unhelpful thinking and behavior. Betty has worked with a wide range of issues across a long career, including mood conditions, bipolar disorder, eating and sleeping difficulties, chronic illness and caregiver stress. She also helps with adoption, abandonment, blended family questions, and communication problems. Her experience includes supporting those coping with cancer and aging concerns. In sessions she sometimes brings creative elements such as cinematherapy - watching and talking about film clips to illuminate feelings and choices. That approach can make difficult material easier to talk about and help people see new ways forward.

How attachment, client-centered, and CBT ideas work online

Attachment-based work focuses on relationships and how early bonds shape current connections; it helps people understand trust, closeness, and fear of abandonment. Client-centered therapy centers the person in the room, emphasizing empathy and listening so clients can find their own answers. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and teaches practical skills to shift them. Finding the right mix is part of the process, and the therapist will collaborate with each person to choose approaches that match their goals and comfort level. Decisions about techniques and pace are made together so the work fits the client's needs. Online formats make that collaborative work easier to fit into life. Video calls let people meet face to face when visual connection is helpful. Phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging work well for brief check-ins, journaling between sessions, or when a shorter written exchange is more practical. These options offer flexibility to maintain regular contact while using attachment, client-centered, and CBT strategies in ways that suit the person's schedule and preferences.