About Monica
Monica Cruz is a licensed clinical social worker who brings 16 years of experience to her practice in Louisiana. She focuses on helping people who are overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, mood struggles, relationship conflict, grief, and addiction. Monica aims to listen first, then work with each person to set realistic steps forward.
She uses a mix of body-focused and talk-based approaches to help people notice how emotions show up in the body and in daily life.
Background and approach
Monica draws on Somatic Therapy, Attachment-Based strategies, and well-known techniques from cognitive and behavioral approaches to shape practical plans. Sessions emphasize what feels manageable and useful for each person. Monica works in a nonjudgmental, collaborative way.
She helps people break big problems into small steps. She also supports those dealing with identity concerns, intimacy issues, body image, and coping after separation or loss. Her approach includes skills for emotion regulation, communication, and self-care.
Her background as a licensed clinical social worker informs a problem-solving style that still keeps the person at the center. Monica combines listening with concrete tools so people can try changes between sessions. She explains options plainly and adjusts the plan based on what is working.
People who want clear steps, a calm presence, and attention to both body and thoughts may find this approach helpful. Monica encourages a steady pace and celebrates small gains while working toward larger goals.
How somatic and skills-based approaches work online
Somatic-informed work notices how feelings show up in the body and uses simple practices to help people regulate breathing, posture, and physical tension. This can help with anxiety, stress, trauma responses, and overwhelming emotions by giving concrete ways to feel steadier in the moment.Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on patterns in close relationships and how early bonds shape current trust and communication. It helps people understand relationship fears, abandonment concerns, and ways of connecting that cause conflict or isolation.
Client-Centered Therapy creates space for people to be heard without judgement and to set their own goals. It emphasizes listening, empathy, and adapting the pace to the person’s comfort while building self-direction and confidence.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose which combination of methods fits their needs and goals. That process is flexible and may change as progress is made.
Online therapy offers practical benefits such as scheduling flexibility and the ability to use video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. These formats make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives and to access consistent support when in-person visits are difficult. Licensed professionals can guide exercises, teach skills, and check progress using these online tools.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 16 years
- Licensed
- Louisiana
- Languages
- English