Margarita Araiza-Johnston, LCSW

Margarita Araiza-Johnston is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with a decade of experience helping people manage stress and anxiety. She draws on practical therapy methods to help clients handle family strain, relationship challenges, grief, and major life changes. Sessions are offered in English and Spanish and reflect her background working with diverse communities.

She began her career after earning a BA in sociology and anthropology with a minor in French from the University of Redlands. She later completed a Master of Social Work at Tulane University in New Orleans. Early roles included social work in hospice and crisis and suicide counseling in Louisiana, which shaped her approach to intense life events.

Margarita uses methods that focus on relationships, thoughts, and feelings to help people make concrete changes. She integrates attachment-based ideas to look at relationship patterns, cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thoughts, and emotionally-focused work to deepen emotional awareness. Motivational interviewing and narrative techniques are used when clients want to clarify goals or reframe difficult stories.

Her background also includes training in mediation and family law mediation and work addressing child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and suicide prevention. She offers bilingual therapy and supports people navigating LGBTQ+ concerns, parenting stress, fertility and intimacy issues, and compassion fatigue.

People typically notice that sessions focus on practical next steps and clearer communication. To begin, clients follow the site’s matching steps and schedule based on therapist availability.

How attachment, CBT, and emotion work translate online

Margarita uses attachment-based ideas to look at how relationships shape feelings and reactions. This approach helps people notice patterns in how they reach for support, respond to conflict, or feel safe with others.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing them with small experiments. That can help reduce anxious thinking and build practical coping skills for day-to-day stress.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps people name and move through strong emotions so they feel less stuck. It is useful for grief, intimacy concerns, and times when feelings keep getting in the way of clear choices.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. She will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust them as progress is made.

If you are considering online sessions, confirm the exact session formats available with the booking process before scheduling. Many people find online therapy easier to fit into a busy life because it reduces travel, allows shorter check-ins when needed, and can be scheduled around work or family time. Ask about language options and session length when you begin the matching steps.