Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto

Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 20 years of experience who helps people manage strong emotions and life challenges. She welcomes conversations about anger, stress, anxiety, grief, relationship tension, and other concerns in straightforward, practical ways. Her approach aims to make sessions feel useful from the first visit.

She trained in the United States and completed a master's degree in Clinical Social Work after studying clinical psychology as an undergraduate. She has worked in hospitals, health centers, and private agencies, and she has experience with people across the adult age span. She brings both Colombian and U.S. cultural perspectives and conducts therapy in English and Spanish.

Her work is client-centered and goal oriented. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused methods, Dialectical Behavior Therapy principles, and mindfulness practices to teach coping skills and change unhelpful patterns. Sessions focus on concrete tools for regulating emotion and handling everyday stressors.

In sessions she relies on active listening, empathy, and validation while helping people set clear, reachable goals. She emphasizes hands-on techniques that can be practiced between visits, such as behavioral experiments, grounding exercises, and small habit changes.

To begin, people follow a simple sign-up and matching process and schedule according to availability. Maria Clara frames therapy as a collaborative process and aims to help each person find practical ways to feel steadier and more capable in daily life.

How her approaches translate to online care

Maria Clara uses practical, skill-based methods that work well in remote sessions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing small behavior changes to reduce strong emotions like anger or anxiety. Solution-Focused techniques concentrate on clear, short-term goals and on building immediate, achievable steps toward better coping.

She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy ideas and mindfulness practices to help people notice intense feelings and practice regulation skills. These methods teach concrete tools - such as grounding, distress tolerance, and breathing exercises - that can be practiced between meetings and reviewed during sessions.

Finding the right mix of approaches happens together. She will help clients choose methods based on their needs, goals, and what feels realistic for day-to-day life. This collaborative process allows adjustments over time as progress or new challenges appear.

If you are considering online work, confirm the current session formats before booking since formats are not listed here. Many people appreciate online therapy for fitting sessions into busy schedules, reducing travel time, and making it easier to keep short check-ins during the day. Licensed professionals can tailor session focus to practical coping skills and goal steps that translate well to remote care.