- Attachment work
- CBT skills
- Mindfulness practice
About Valerie
Valerie LaPorte is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in Minnesota with 21 years of professional experience and over a decade of direct clinical work. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, and major life changes. Valerie also addresses relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting strain, sleep problems, addictive behaviors, ADHD, bipolar mood issues, and compassion fatigue.
She has worked across a wide range of settings and with people from many backgrounds. Much of her career has involved supporting individuals with serious mental illness and complex challenges. That background informs a practical, problem-focused style in sessions.
Valerie uses attachment-based approaches and client-centered methods to help people understand patterns in relationships and emotional responses. She incorporates cognitive behavioral techniques and elements of dialectical behavior therapy to teach skills for managing mood, anxiety, and impulsive behaviors. Mindfulness strategies are used to increase awareness and reduce reactivity.
In sessions she listens closely, helps set clear goals, and works on specific, workable steps to address problems. Conversations often include identifying unhelpful thoughts, building coping skills, and practicing new ways of relating to others. Sessions can also address parenting stress, bereavement, and effects of past abuse.
Her practice also includes supervision work under Minnesota Board of Social Work approval. People seeking support for life purpose questions after a career, relationship, or health change can bring those concerns into therapy to clarify values and next steps. To confirm current session options before booking, prospective clients should check the therapist's online information.
How Valerie’s approaches translate to online work
Valerie draws on attachment-based work to look at how relationship patterns affect current struggles. That approach helps people notice how past bonds shape expectations and reactions in close relationships, which can be useful for intimacy and communication issues.She also uses cognitive behavioral therapy to identify and test unhelpful thoughts and to build concrete coping skills. CBT techniques are practical for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and managing mood shifts. Mindfulness practices are offered to increase present-moment awareness and reduce reactivity in stressful moments.
Choosing the right approach is collaborative. Valerie discusses goals, preferences, and what has helped or not helped in the past, then together they try strategies that fit the person's needs. She adjusts methods based on how someone responds and what seems most helpful in weekly work.
The therapist's biography does not specify which online session formats are offered, so confirm current options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, shorten a check-in when needed, and reduce travel time. It can also allow for different ways to practice skills between meetings, such as brief exercises or homework that fit into everyday life.
Areas of expertise
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
21+ years
Listed in
Minnesota
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, and coping with life changes, among other concerns.
How would she approach someone who feels stuck in life?
Her style is goal-directed and client-centered, using focused listening and practical problem solving to identify next steps and clarify values.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 21 years of professional experience and over 10 years of direct clinical practice.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is a LICSW (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker) licensed in Minnesota.
Can sessions be conducted in languages other than English?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
The original biography does not list specific session formats; please confirm current session options before booking.
How are fees handled?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger, use the crisis numbers.