Grace Szeja, LCSW

Grace Szeja is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, midlife questions, and major life changes. She uses clear, down-to-earth language and a calm approach to help people notice what’s not working and try different ways of coping. Grace welcomes people across the LGBT community and younger adults who feel stuck or uncertain about next steps.

Grace has ten years of clinical experience, including work in hospital settings with a wide age range. She blends client-centered conversation with practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and skills from dialectical behavior therapy. She also brings expressive art techniques like drawing, journaling, sand tray, and clay into sessions when that feels helpful.

Her background in fine arts shapes how she thinks about identity, purpose, and creative problem solving. That experience informs gentle, experiential activities that can make ideas feel more concrete. Grace aims to help people build new habits, reduce self-blame, and develop coping strategies that fit everyday life.

Sessions focus on practical steps rather than labels. Grace guides people through sorting priorities, building self-compassion, and planning changes that matter. She often works with issues tied to family of origin, attachment concerns, emptiness, guilt and shame, and recovery from trauma or loss.

Outside of work she enjoys gardening, distance running, and hiking, and shares her home with cats and rabbits. She uses she/her pronouns and practices in Florida as an LCSW licensed in California and Arizona.

How Grace's Approaches Translate to Online Work

Attachment-based work focuses on how early relationships shape what feels safe and available today. Online conversations can help people name patterns and try new ways of connecting with others and themselves. Client-centered therapy emphasizes the person's experience and values; the therapist follows the client’s lead and supports their goals in a respectful, nonjudgmental way. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on practical steps to change thinking and behavior patterns, such as testing unhelpful thoughts and building small habits that shift mood.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Grace collaborates with each person to decide which methods fit their needs and goals. She listens to concerns, tries different techniques, and adjusts the plan based on what helps most in real life.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current online options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life - for example, shorter check-ins during a lunch break, sessions that avoid travel time, or using video to share art exercises. It can also allow steady, ongoing work on issues like midlife transitions, grief, and rebuilding routines while keeping therapy practical and goal-focused.