Benjamin Lara
Compassionate, practical therapy focused on goals
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed in
- Idaho
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Benjamin
Benjamin Lara is a licensed clinical social worker who focuses on practical, respectful therapy. He uses an individual-centered style that keeps the client's goals front and center. Sessions are straightforward and nonjudgmental, aimed at helping people manage stress, anxiety, addiction, depression, and related concerns.
Benjamin speaks English and practices in Idaho as an LCSW (LCSW-35776). He blends several proven methods to fit each person’s needs instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all plan.
Background and approach
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people spot unhelpful thoughts and change patterns. Motivational Interviewing is used when someone is working through change or ambivalence. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness practices help with staying present and acting in line with values.
Benjamin has eleven years of clinical experience and frames sessions around respect and dignity. He aims to make it easier to talk about difficult topics like grief, trauma, relationship struggles, addiction, and parenting challenges. The therapist pays attention to life stressors and practical steps for coping.
Therapy with Benjamin can include short-term strategies and longer-term work depending on what the person wants. Sessions are adapted to each person’s goals and pace. To begin, people choose the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to the therapist’s availability.
Online options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. The subscription for sessions varies by location and can be canceled at any time.
Therapeutic approaches suited to online work
Benjamin commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy online. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can reduce anxiety and improve daily routines. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy focuses on identifying personal values and taking committed action even when difficult thoughts or feelings arise; it can help with stress, depression, and motivation.He also draws on Client-Centered principles to keep sessions collaborative and respectful. That means the therapist listens closely, follows the person's lead, and adapts techniques to fit the client’s needs and goals. Figuring out which approach will help most is part of the work together rather than a decision made by the therapist alone.
Online sessions offer several practical benefits. Video calls provide face-to-face conversation from home, phone sessions can be used when video is not convenient, and live chat or text-based messaging allow brief check-ins and ongoing support between sessions. These options make scheduling more flexible and let people access therapy in ways that fit their daily routines.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.
Client-Centered Therapy
The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed
- Idaho
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Benjamin
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point