About Margarita

Margarita Araiza-Johnston is a licensed clinical social worker with ten years of experience. She speaks English and Spanish and brings a calm, practical approach to therapy for people feeling overwhelmed by life changes and stress. She focuses on helping people manage anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship concerns.

Parents and individuals concerned about family dynamics, parenting strain, or ADHD-related challenges will find straightforward strategies and support. She also addresses intimacy issues, anger, self-esteem, and career questions.

Background and approach

Her background includes work in hospice care and crisis and suicide counseling. That experience shaped how she responds to intense moments and sudden loss. She also has training in mediation and family law mediation which informs her skill at clarifying conflicts and communication patterns.

Margarita uses approaches like attachment-based work, cognitive behavioral techniques, emotionally-focused methods, motivational interviewing, and narrative therapy. In sessions she helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, name emotions, and try small, doable changes between meetings. Sessions are practical and rooted in everyday life.

She offers therapy in New Mexico and provides services through video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. People who prefer Spanish can work in that language. To begin, clients follow the site's matching steps and schedule sessions according to availability.

Using evidence-based approaches in online care

Attachment-based therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current bonds and reactions; it helps people understand patterns of trust, closeness, and distance in relationships and can reduce conflict and loneliness. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps people spot unhelpful thoughts and try different behaviors to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress in daily life. Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people name and process emotions in the moment to improve connection and resolve recurring relationship difficulties.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and comfort level. Sessions can shift over time so techniques fit what’s helpful in the moment rather than being fixed from the start.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for deeper conversations and reading nonverbal cues, while phone calls work well when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text allow brief check-ins or coaching between sessions and can fit into busy schedules. These options make it easier to attend therapy from different locations and to pick a format that suits daily routines.

Questions people ask

What concerns does Margarita address?
She helps people with anxiety, depression, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, parenting and family stress, ADHD-related challenges, and other life changes.
What is her therapeutic style like?
She blends attachment-based work, cognitive behavioral techniques, emotionally-focused methods, motivational interviewing, and narrative therapy to create practical, steps-focused sessions.
What experience does she bring?
She has ten years of clinical experience, including hospice care and crisis and suicide counseling, along with mediation training that supports work on communication and conflict.
Where is she licensed and located?
She holds LCSW credentials in Hawaii and California and practices from New Mexico.
In which languages are sessions offered?
Sessions are offered in English and Spanish. International clients are not currently accepted.
What session formats are available?
She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and preferences.
How are costs handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I get started?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions based on therapist availability.

What this therapist works with

Most often

Experience
10 years
Licensed
New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas, California
Languages
English, Spanish

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