About Benia
Benia Thomas is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who focuses on practical, person-centered therapy. She uses clear, direct conversation to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship concerns. Benia aims to make therapy straightforward and useful for people feeling overwhelmed or stuck.
She trained at Fordham University, earning a Master of Social Work, and completed her bachelor’s degree in social work at Lehman College. Early in her career she worked in the New York City foster care system.
Background and approach
She later provided counseling and led psychoeducation groups for incarcerated women living with severe mental illness. Benia has spent over a decade working with LGBTQ people and says that experience informs how she approaches identity and relationship questions. She also has experience supervising Master level social workers and supporting clinicians in their development.
In sessions she combines Client-Centered listening with practical tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Solution-Focused work. She includes mindfulness techniques when helpful to reduce reactivity and build calm. Her style is warm, encouraging, and direct, with a focus on realistic steps clients can try between meetings.
People come to her for parenting stress, attachment and adoption concerns, intimacy and communication problems, career uncertainty, and compassion fatigue. She works with adolescents and young adults as noted in her background and helps people clarify goals and make gradual changes that last.
Approaches that fit online therapy
Client-Centered Therapy centers on listening and collaboration. The therapist follows the person's lead, helping them name goals and feel heard, which can be especially helpful for relationship and identity concerns.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on practical skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It works well for stress, anxiety, and depression because it breaks problems into clear steps a person can practice between sessions.
Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and increase calm. Those skills are often paired with other methods to help regulate emotions during difficult moments.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t worked in the past, then try methods that make sense together. That collaboration helps tailor sessions so they address real-life problems in practical ways.
Online therapy offers flexibility for different needs. Video calls let people read facial cues and work in real time. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a busy schedule. Live chat and text-based messaging support brief check-ins, ongoing tracking, or quick coping reminders between meetings. Together these formats make it easier to maintain continuity and keep progress moving forward.
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- New York, New Jersey
- Languages
- English