Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto, LCSW

Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto is a licensed clinical social worker with two decades of experience helping people navigate major life changes. She works with people managing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship and intimacy concerns, and the wide challenges that often come in midlife. Sessions can be conducted in English or Spanish, and she accepts international clients.

Her approach centers on the person in front of her. She combines client-centered care with goal-oriented strategies to help people make concrete changes. Therapy includes practical tools for coping, improving communication, and regulating emotions rather than abstract theory alone.

Maria Clara trained at California State University, Fresno where she earned a master’s degree in clinical social work. She has worked in hospitals, health centers, and private agencies. That variety of settings shaped her ability to adapt methods to different needs and life stages.

In sessions she uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking and develop new coping skills. She also draws on Solution-Focused methods, Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, and mindfulness practices to offer hands-on strategies. Her counseling style emphasizes validation, active listening, and reflection.

People who work with her can expect pragmatic steps toward clearer goals. She frames therapy as a collaborative process and encourages starting with a small first step. Maria Clara aims to help people build routines and skills that support steadier day-to-day functioning.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on understanding each person’s experience and working from their priorities. Online sessions using this approach emphasize listening, reflection, and setting goals that matter to the client. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches concrete skills to identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors; online CBT often involves short skill practice, thought records, and action steps to use between sessions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers emotion regulation and distress-tolerance skills that can be taught and practiced in sessions and then applied in daily life.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about their goals, try out practical strategies, and adjust the plan together as progress is observed. Clients help shape which methods are prioritized based on what feels most useful.

Many people find online therapy helps fit sessions into busy lives by removing travel time and making scheduling easier. Online work can make it simpler to have shorter check-ins during a lunch break, avoid commuting, or use methods that involve worksheets and screen sharing. Confirm current session options and formats with the therapist before booking to match preferences and practical needs.