Laurie Stricker , LMSW

Laurie Stricker is a licensed master social worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, depression, and life transitions. She focuses on practical steps people can use right away. Laurie speaks plainly and aims to make sessions feel direct and useful for everyday problems.

Laurie completed a Master of Social Work degree in 1998 while working full time. Early volunteer work at a domestic violence shelter led her into child welfare and foster care. Those roles gave her firsthand experience with family dynamics and the legal system.

She later worked as an infant mental health specialist in her hometown of northeast Michigan, where she supported families coping with trauma and the challenges of caring for young children. That role included work in people’s homes and taught her to meet clients where they were emotionally and practically.

Laurie expanded her skills at a local hospital, providing individual psychotherapy across ages and working with in-patient units for substance use and mental health concerns. She then spent time at the VA, which broadened her experience with trauma, addiction, and complex medical-psychological needs.

Today she draws on 27 years of experience and several therapeutic approaches to tailor sessions to each person. Laurie works with issues commonly affecting women, including caregiving stress, family problems, grief, parenting strain, and relationship concerns. She aims for clear goals, steady progress, and techniques clients can apply between meetings.

How Laurie’s approaches translate to online care

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on understanding each person’s experience and building a partnership in sessions. It helps when people need a listening space that honors their pace and priorities.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behavior and offers concrete tools to change unhelpful patterns. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and stress that shows up in daily routines.

Laurie will work with each person to choose approaches that fit their situation and goals. Finding the right mix is a collaborative process that can shift as progress is made or new needs appear.

Online therapy makes this collaborative work easier to fit into a busy life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a simpler check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging make it possible to exchange shorter updates, try brief coping exercises, or get support between longer sessions. These options give flexibility for different schedules, energy levels, and communication preferences.