About Leslie
Leslie Libutti is a licensed clinical social worker in California who helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, depression, and life changes. She draws on twenty years of experience to listen, clarify goals, and help people build practical coping skills. Leslie believes the first step is recognizing that support could help, and she meets people with directness and warmth.
Her approach is collaborative. She works to identify personal strengths and the habits that get in the way.
Background and approach
Conversations are concrete and focused on what can change now. Sessions can include guided reflection, behavioral tools, and creative exercises such as poetry to make emotions easier to name. Leslie uses client-centered methods to place the person’s perspective at the heart of the work.
She also applies cognitive behavioral techniques to spot unhelpful thinking and develop new patterns. Existential ideas are woven in when clients wrestle with meaning, purpose, or major life shifts. She often helps people sort through caregiver stress, aging concerns, body image, codependency, and guilt or shame.
Hospice and end-of-life topics, isolation, and women's issues are also areas she addresses. The work is intended to be honest, sometimes challenging, and grounded in everyday steps. Practical tools and steady listening are central to Leslie’s style.
She aims to help people find clearer choices and more ease in daily life. Sessions balance emotional work with small, manageable tasks to try between meetings.
How Leslie’s Approaches Work Online
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the person in the room. The therapist reflects what is said, follows the person’s lead, and helps clarify feelings and goals. This approach is useful when someone needs acceptance and clearer direction.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going. It teaches simple tools to challenge unhelpful thinking and to build new habits, which can help with anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
Existential Therapy addresses questions about meaning, purpose, and major life changes. It helps people face difficult choices and find a way forward that feels personally meaningful.
Choosing the right mix of these approaches is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about their needs, goals, and preferences and together decide what to try first. The plan can change over time as progress and needs shift.
Online sessions offer flexibility for people juggling busy schedules. Video calls let you work face to face from different locations, phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth or visual focus is an issue, and live chat or text-based messaging can fit short check-ins or days when typing feels easier. These formats make it possible to keep momentum between visits and to fit therapy into real life.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does Leslie focus on?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her professional background?
What credentials and location are on record?
Which languages are available for sessions?
What session formats does she offer online?
How are fees and payment handled?
What are the steps to begin working together?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English