Lesa Leavelle

Lesa Leavelle is a licensed clinical social worker in Texas with 35 years of experience providing mental health and behavioral counseling to children and adults across outpatient, inpatient, school, and medical settings.

Her work has included treatment for the delayed effects of trauma, development of adaptive replacement coping skills, reduction of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and support with family of origin and relationship issues. She also assists people coping with grief and loss, challenges with motivation and self-esteem, chronic pain management, phobic or avoidant behaviors, ADHD, autism, and general stress management.

When therapy begins, Lesa prioritizes building a therapeutic relationship founded on mutual respect, creating a safe and nurturing environment that acknowledges the courage involved in seeking help and trying new approaches. She practices from a wellness framework that honors the whole person, emphasizing balance across multiple areas of need as the foundation for emotional well-being. In the first session she asks about current and historical information across social, emotional, mental (thinking processes), physical, and spiritual domains to identify the areas that brought a person to counseling.

Lesa works in a client-centered, collaborative manner: clients choose goals and priorities while she offers professional feedback and clarification to help explore and define concerns and their relative importance. From there she and the client develop a plan to address those priorities using evidence-based interventions selected from her clinical toolbox. She explains each recommended intervention and how it works so clients can make informed decisions about their course of treatment.

Her ongoing clinical training supports the use of interventions she has used extensively, including cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapies (CBT and DBT), trauma-informed approaches, Internal Family Systems, somatic-focused therapy, solution-focused therapy, Gestalt techniques, grief work, and family and client-centered therapies. She also has experience and knowledge of psychopharmacology.

Therapy with Lesa is treated as a dynamic process that can change direction as needs evolve. Session-by-session evaluation of earlier treatment goals helps refine priorities and adjust the plan as needed, while processing experiences and between-session assignments informs progress. The pace, depth, and direction of work are guided by the client with Lesa providing therapeutic feedback and support.

If this collaborative, whole-person approach feels like a fit, Lesa looks forward to meeting clients online and supporting their next steps forward.