About Steven
Steven Lai is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than three decades of experience in clinical social work. He draws on long experience supporting people through stress, anxiety, grief, addiction, depression and relationship challenges. Steven aims to help people feel better and solve the problems that brought them to therapy.
He takes a practical, goal-focused approach. Sessions are usually problem solving and targeted toward specific changes. He often uses cognitive behavioral strategies to challenge unhelpful thoughts and build new habits.
Background and approach
He also works in a client-centered way, listening closely and shaping work around each person's needs. Over his career Steven has held roles as a therapist, case manager, clinical supervisor and mental health clinic director. That range has given him insight into how treatment, services and daily life interact for people facing complex issues.
He applies that perspective when planning treatment steps. Steven supports people coping with trauma, parenting strain, intimacy questions, sleeping and eating concerns, anger, self-esteem and career stress. He also addresses issues related to prejudice and discrimination and helps clients build self-love.
Steven trained at The Hunter School of Social Work and holds a Master of Social Work degree. He is licensed in Pennsylvania as an LCSW and brings 32 years of practice to each session. He offers sessions in English and works online through a mix of video, phone, chat and messaging formats.
How his approaches translate to online work
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening, empathy and following the person's lead. In online sessions that means the therapist gives space for each person to tell their story and then shapes goals and steps around what matters most to them. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, behaviors and feelings interact. Online CBT often includes practical exercises, thought records and small homework tasks to try between sessions, which can help with anxiety, depression, sleep and habit changes.Finding the best approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences and then recommend strategies that fit. That collaborative process can include combining client-centered listening with CBT techniques when that makes sense for the issue at hand.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging. Video calls let people use visual cues and hold longer therapy conversations. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to use video. Live chat and messaging are useful for shorter check-ins, quick skill practice, or when someone wants flexibility across the day. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school and family life while keeping the focus on practical steps and problem solving.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed
- Pennsylvania
- Languages
- English