Vicki Alexander Hess , LCSW

Vicki Alexander Hess is a California licensed clinical social worker with five years of experience. She focuses on helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and issues related to gender and LGBT concerns. She aims to create a respectful, sensitive, and compassionate environment for people who are nervous about starting therapy.

In sessions she uses clear, down-to-earth conversation to identify immediate concerns and practical next steps. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to notice and change unhelpful thought patterns. Mindfulness techniques are offered to help with grounding, sleep, and managing intense emotions.

Motivational Interviewing is used when people want help making a change, such as with addictions, career shifts, or habit patterns. Solution-Focused Therapy helps create short-term goals and immediate strategies for coping with life changes, grief, or compassion fatigue. Internal Family Systems can be used to understand different parts of the self that show up during stress or after trauma.

Vicki tailors the conversation and plan to each person’s needs, whether the focus is intimacy, family of origin issues, body image, or coping after a disaster. She also supports people dealing with chronic illness, sleep problems, anger, and self-esteem concerns.

Her practice offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so people can choose what fits their life. Getting started involves a short matching questionnaire and scheduling an initial session.

Approaches that translate well to online therapy

Vicki commonly draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness Therapy in online sessions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at thoughts and behaviors to find small, practical changes that reduce anxiety or depression. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices that can help with sleep, stress, and grounding during intense emotions.

She also uses Motivational Interviewing when someone is ready to make a change. That approach focuses on listening, exploring ambivalence, and building the person’s own reasons for change. Together you and the therapist decide which approach or combination feels most useful based on your goals and preferences.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls let you use visual cues and longer conversation; phone sessions can be a good fit when bandwidth is limited or a quieter place is easier to arrange. Live chat and text messaging support shorter check-ins, goal reminders, and ongoing coaching between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit work on mental health into a busy life while keeping therapy collaborative and goal-oriented.