About Athina
Athina Smalios helps people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, anger, low self-esteem, relationship and family concerns, parenting strain, bipolar disorder, depression, and major life changes. She also supports people facing burnout or compassion fatigue, ADHD, and challenges related to autism or Asperger syndrome.
Athina is a licensed clinical social worker with twenty years of experience and practices in Florida. Athina uses straightforward, practical methods in sessions.
Background and approach
She focuses on skills you can use between meetings, such as coping strategies for intense emotions and steps to improve communication. Sessions are collaborative - she listens first, then helps set clear, short-term goals to make progress feel manageable.
Her work leans on approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Solution-Focused Therapy to help people change unhelpful thinking, build motivation for action, and identify small workable solutions. Treatment plans are adjusted to each person’s needs and daily life demands. Athina often helps caregivers, first responders, and young adults who are finding transitions hard.
She also addresses workplace stress, isolation, guilt or shame, and questions about life purpose. Conversations cover practical steps, emotional processing, and planning for real-world situations. People meet Athina by phone, video calls, live chat, or text-based messaging depending on what fits their schedule.
She aims to make therapy doable for busy lives and to help people leave sessions with clear next steps.
How online therapy and approaches work together
Online sessions with Athina draw on methods that help people take clear steps toward feeling better. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical techniques to shift unhelpful patterns; it is often useful for anxiety, depression, and mood shifts. Motivational Interviewing focuses on building a person’s own motivation to make changes and can help with setting and following through on personal goals. Solution-Focused Therapy centers on finding small, concrete solutions and on identifying what’s already working so progress can start quickly.Choosing the best approach is a team effort. Athina will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and daily demands, then use the methods that fit best. She may blend techniques so sessions stay practical and goal-oriented while making space for emotional processing.
Online formats make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual connection. Phone sessions work when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat or text-based messaging can be useful for brief updates, homework planning, or ongoing support between sessions. These options give flexibility so people can keep working on goals even with a packed schedule.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English