About Joanna
Joanna Hurt Sargeant is a licensed clinical social worker in Connecticut who helps people manage stress, anxiety, relationship strain, trauma and abuse, low self-esteem, and depression. She draws on 25 years of experience to offer steady, practical support when life feels overwhelming. Joanna keeps the work straightforward and focused on what matters to each person.
She aims to create an open space where clients can talk without feeling judged. Conversations focus on what is happening now and on small steps that help people feel safer and more capable.
Background and approach
Joanna listens for strengths and practical options that fit daily life. Her approach blends hands-on problem solving with attention to emotions and coping skills. She uses tools from cognitive behavioral therapy to change unhelpful thinking.
She adds skills from dialectical behavior therapy to manage intense emotions and from mindfulness to increase calm and focus. Joanna also uses client-centered and solution-focused methods to shape goals and keep sessions useful. Together with each person she sets goals and tracks progress in ways that feel realistic and relevant.
The work can include short-term plans or longer support depending on needs. Joanna supports people from diverse backgrounds and pays attention to cultural factors that affect how stress and trauma show up. She welcomes conversations about life purpose, guilt and shame, first responder and veteran issues, postpartum depression, and relationship challenges such as infidelity.
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and building a strong working relationship so people feel heard and respected. It helps when someone needs a supportive space to talk through difficult feelings and make personal choices. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, helps people spot patterns in thoughts and behaviors and then try small experiments to change them; it is useful for anxiety, depression, and stress. Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, teaches practical skills for handling strong emotions and building more stable routines in daily life.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss your goals and preferences and suggest techniques that fit your needs. You and the therapist decide together whether to focus on skill building, problem solving, or deeper processing as sessions continue.
Online therapy offers flexibility in how people connect. Video calls let conversations feel close and face-to-face. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or when being on camera is difficult. Live chat and text-based messaging support brief check-ins, skills practice, and ongoing tracking between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, family, or shift schedules while using the approaches mentioned above.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Connecticut
- Languages
- English