About Leslie
Leslie Cates is a Licensed Professional Counselor practicing in Louisiana who helps people facing anxiety, depression, stress, addictions, grief, and life transitions. She offers a calm, respectful presence and focuses on practical steps clients can use between sessions. Leslie works with adults who want clearer thinking, better emotional regulation, and steadier daily routines.
Her style is warm and interactive. She centers each session on the client’s goals and uses a client-centered approach so people lead the direction of their care.
Background and approach
She avoids stigmatizing labels and emphasizes strengths and realistic, achievable changes. Leslie draws on a mix of approaches to match each person’s needs. She uses Somatic methods to connect body sensations and emotions, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to build willingness and values-guided action, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to change unhelpful thinking patterns.
She also integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills when intense emotions need coping tools. Over ten years of practice, Leslie has supported people dealing with relationship strain, trauma and abuse, sleep problems, ADHD, bipolar symptoms, compassion fatigue, chronic pain, and caregiver stress. She often helps clients process past hurts and develop new coping strategies for everyday life.
Leslie earned a Master of Arts in Counseling in 2016 and holds Louisiana license LA LPC 7033. She aims to empower people to make steady, meaningful changes at a manageable pace.
Approaches that guide online work
Leslie uses Somatic methods to help people notice the connection between physical sensations and emotions. These approaches can be useful when stress, trauma reactions, or chronic pain show up in the body. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on helping people clarify what matters to them and take small actions toward those values while accepting uncomfortable feelings. ACT can be helpful for anxiety, depression, and life changes.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Leslie collaborates with each person to choose methods that match their goals, comfort level, and daily life. She will try different tools and adjust the plan based on what helps the client make steady progress.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet when life is busy. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and demonstrations of grounding or breathing techniques. Phone sessions can fit into tight schedules, and live chat or text-based messaging make it easier to check in between appointments. These options help people access consistent support from licensed professionals without long travel times.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- Louisiana
- Languages
- English