About Steven
Steven Osterstrom is a licensed clinical social worker in New York with 24 years of experience as a psychotherapist. He offers a warm, interactive approach that helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, and identity or relationship concerns. Steven encourages practical steps and steady change rather than quick fixes.
He draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and mindfulness.
Background and approach
Sessions usually focus on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and building concrete skills for coping and emotion regulation. Mindfulness is used to help people stay present and notice patterns without judgment. Steven has worked in both individual and group settings and has experience with people dealing with trauma, abuse, grief, parenting stresses, career questions, and substance use alongside mental health concerns.
He emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and compassion in the room. The goal is to uncover personal strengths and practical ways forward. He has taught social work graduate students and volunteered with prison programs, which shaped his ability to work across diverse backgrounds and move toward an inclusive stance.
Those experiences inform how he listens and how he frames change as a gradual, courageous process. In sessions he aims to create an environment where people can explore difficult feelings, practice new responses, and make choices that match their values. He helps people use courage and curiosity to build a more meaningful life.
How these approaches translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify their values and take small, committed steps toward them while accepting difficult thoughts and feelings. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thoughts and trying out different behaviors to reduce distress and improve functioning, which helps with mood, anxiety, and coping skills. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and strengthen focus during stressful moments.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences, then suggest ways to blend methods that fit best. Sessions are paced to match readiness, and adjustments are made as work progresses.
Online formats - video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging - make it easier to fit therapy into busy days. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone calls can be a good shorter option when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief check-ins, skill practice, or ongoing support between sessions. These options offer flexibility and let people try different ways of connecting until they find what works for their routine.
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 24 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English