Marsha Hicks (Richards) , LCSW

Marsha Hicks (Richards) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who brings 21 years of practice to her work with adults. She focuses on everyday struggles like anxiety, depression, stress, addiction, grief, and low self-esteem. Marsha helps people navigate relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting stress, sleep problems, and the emotional impact of trauma and loss.

She trained at Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare and has worked in both inpatient and outpatient settings. That background means she is comfortable helping people who face co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges. Her practice also attends to issues such as ADHD, bipolar mood challenges, and compassion fatigue.

Marsha favors an approach that centers the person in front of her. She draws from attachment-based ideas to look at how early relationships shape current patterns. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and elements of dialectical behavior therapy to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance.

Sessions are guided by the client’s goals and strengths. Conversations are direct and practical, with attention to problem-solving and small behavior changes. Marsha also includes existential themes when people are wrestling with meaning, life transitions, or intense uncertainty.

She offers care in English and sees people in Florida, while also working with international clients online. Marsha uses video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging to match therapy to each person’s needs. To begin, clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a time.

How attachment, CBT, and DBT translate to online work

Attachment-based work looks at how early relationships shape current patterns of trust, closeness, and boundaries. Online sessions can use this lens to notice how people relate now and practice different ways of connecting. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing small behavior changes to reduce anxiety and depression. That straightforward problem-solving fits well into video or phone sessions where specific skills can be taught and practiced. Dialectical behavior therapy, DBT, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness skills to manage intense feelings and improve communication. Those skills can be taught in brief chat exchanges, text check-ins, or longer video lessons.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, symptoms, and preferences and then recommend strategies to try. Decisions are collaborative and can shift over time as needs change.

Online formats make therapy more flexible. Video calls allow face-to-face interaction for skill coaching and deeper discussion. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging support short updates, homework reviews, and skill reminders between longer sessions. These options help fit therapy around work, travel, or caregiving responsibilities.