About Thomas
Thomas Grinnell is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in New York who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, mood disorders, addictions, and intimacy or relationship concerns. He has practical experience guiding people through parenting challenges, self-esteem struggles, anger, and coping with life changes. Thomas also supports those dealing with identity issues such as gender dysphoria and LGBT-related concerns.
He draws on about 12 years of direct counseling experience.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on clear skills people can use between meetings. He aims for straightforward tools that fit daily life and current challenges. Thomas uses Client-Centered Therapy to follow what matters most to each person.
He combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to uncover unhelpful thinking and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance. Mindfulness and Motivational Interviewing are woven in when helping people build motivation and present-moment awareness. His background includes work with people who have intellectual disability, obsessive-compulsive concerns, personality and mood disorders, phobias, and post-traumatic stress.
He has experience helping with fatherhood issues, family of origin problems, and disruptive mood concerns. Sessions are offered in English and are held online through video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. Thomas describes therapy as a practical collaboration where people learn skills and try them out between sessions.
He will help prioritize goals and adjust methods as needs change.
How these approaches translate to online work
Thomas often uses Client-Centered Therapy to follow each person’s priorities and build a respectful, practical conversation about goals. This approach helps people feel heard and shapes sessions around what they want to change.He also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify thinking patterns and test new ways of responding to stress or mood symptoms. CBT is useful for anxiety, depression, OCD-type concerns, and other mood disorders because it focuses on small, testable changes.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques are used to teach skills for managing intense emotions, reducing impulsive behavior, and improving distress tolerance. Those skills can be practiced between sessions and adapted to daily routines.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Thomas will collaborate with each person to weigh options and choose methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. He adjusts the plan over time based on what helps most.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls allow more face-to-face interaction and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging suit brief updates, skill coaching between sessions, or when someone prefers written communication. These options offer flexibility for scheduling and make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Impulsivity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Traumatic brain injury
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English