About Arlene
Arlene Phipps is a licensed clinical social worker with 40 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, eating concerns, and depression. She speaks plainly and works to create a respectful, sensitive space for each person who reaches out. Arlene aims to tailor sessions to what a person needs right now.
Her long career includes many kinds of settings and clients, giving her a wide base of real-world experience to draw on.
Background and approach
She focuses on practical steps people can use between sessions to feel steadier and more in control. Arlene helps people talk through painful memories, find ways to cope with loss, and develop healthier habits around eating and mood. Arlene believes therapy is a partnership.
She listens first, then builds a plan that fits each person's goals and rhythms. Sessions are shaped to match how someone prefers to work - more conversational, skills-focused, or paced for deeper processing. She encourages people who feel stuck or overwhelmed to try small, achievable changes.
Arlene respects each person's pace and decisions while offering tools that have been useful for many over the years. Her approach centers on steady support and practical problem-solving. Arlene is licensed in California as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW.
She offers sessions in English and uses a mix of communication styles to meet different needs.
How evidence-based techniques translate to online care
Arlene uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical coping and recovery. One common approach she relies on helps people identify unhelpful thinking and replace it with clearer, more balanced thoughts; this can reduce anxiety and low mood by changing how problems are understood and handled. Another approach emphasizes processing difficult memories and emotional reactions in small steps so trauma and painful loss feel less overwhelming over time.Finding the right fit is part of the process. Arlene collaborates with each person to choose which techniques to try first, adjusting methods to match goals, pace, and comfort level. She describes options, checks in about how they feel, and changes course when something isn't working.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video calls support face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier with limited bandwidth, live chat works for shorter check-ins, and text messaging allows for ongoing reflection between sessions. These formats help people schedule therapy around work, family, and day-to-day life while keeping the focus on practical skill building and steady progress.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Experience
- 40 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English