Darlene Dezso, LICSW

Darlene Dezso is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) with 35 years of professional experience. She helps people who are coping with stress, anxiety, grief, trauma and past abuse, low self-esteem, and depression. She also supports those facing relationship strain, compassion fatigue, jealousy, and life changes.

She focuses on helping clients find more confidence, self-love, and a clearer sense of purpose. In sessions she listens closely and adapts conversation and strategies to each person's needs. She aims to treat people with respect, sensitivity, and compassion.

Darlene uses a mix of practical strategies and reflective work. She draws on client-centered methods to follow what matters most to the client. She also uses cognitive behavioral ideas to spot patterns in thinking that keep problems going.

Her approach can include skills from dialectical behavior therapy to help manage intense emotions and improve coping. Emotionally-focused and existential ideas are used when people want to understand deeper meaning, attachment, and life direction.

Much of her background comes from independent practice work across a long career in Alabama. She helps people with issues such as codependency, communication problems, first responder and veteran concerns, hospice and end-of-life counseling, and coping after disasters. The work aims to be collaborative and practical, with steps people can use between sessions.

Approaches that translate to online work

Client-centered therapy emphasizes listening and following what matters most to the client, which helps build a trusting relationship even when meeting remotely. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and trying different behaviors, which can be taught and practiced across sessions. Dialectical behavior therapy offers practical emotion regulation and distress-tolerance skills that people can learn and use between appointments.

Choosing the right approach is part of the process and will be done together. The therapist will ask about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't helped before, then suggest ways of working that fit those needs. This collaborative planning makes it easier to try techniques and adjust them over time.

Confirm the therapist's current session options before booking so you know which formats are offered. Online work can make it simpler to fit appointments into a busy life, reduce travel time, allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight, and let people join from a place with fewer distractions or less background noise. Licensed professionals can work with clients to find a setup that supports steady progress without promising a specific outcome.