Valerie LaPorte , LICSW

Valerie LaPorte is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) with 21 years of professional experience. She uses straightforward, goal-focused care to help people navigate stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and other life challenges. Valerie is based in Minnesota and supports clients in English, including international clients when appropriate.

Her approach is practical and collaborative. Valerie listens closely and helps people set clear, achievable goals. Sessions emphasize skills people can use between appointments to manage mood, worry, sleep, and difficult relationships.

She has spent much of her career working with individuals facing serious mental health concerns and complex life circumstances. That background informs how she plans care, tailors techniques, and adjusts pacing to match each person’s needs.

Valerie draws from attachment-based work, client-centered methods, cognitive behavioral strategies, dialectical behavior tools, and mindfulness practices. She mixes these approaches to focus on problem solving, building coping skills, and strengthening emotional awareness.

People who come for support often want help with parenting stress, relationship and intimacy worries, grief, addiction-related concerns, attention challenges, or compassion fatigue. Valerie frames treatment around dignity and respect while helping clients take practical steps toward their goals.

Approaches for online healing and skill building

Valerie uses attachment-based ideas to help people understand how past and present relationships affect emotions and behavior. This approach can be useful for intimacy issues, attachment concerns, and patterns that repeat in relationships.

She also applies cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and coping with life changes.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each person to choose and adjust techniques based on goals, needs, and preferences. Sessions may combine conversational listening with practical exercises and homework to build skills between meetings.

Online therapy here can be delivered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different routines. Video is good for face-to-face conversation and skills practice, phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat lets people check in quickly, and text messaging supports shorter updates or ongoing reflection. These formats increase flexibility so people can schedule care around work, family, or travel.