Lesley Schwam
Experienced solution-focused LMFT
- Credentials
- LMFT
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed in
- California
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Lesley
Lesley Schwam is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) based in California. She uses practical, goal-focused methods to help people change daily habits and move forward. Lesley frames therapy as a place to learn new coping skills and build clear steps toward goals.
Her tone is straightforward and solution-oriented. Lesley brings 12 years of clinical experience to her work. She applies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.
Background and approach
She also uses Solution-Focused Therapy to identify small, concrete steps that produce quick progress. Her background includes addressing anxiety, depression, trauma and grief. Lesley also supports people facing addictions, relationship and intimacy-related issues, anger, and self-esteem concerns.
She helps with life transitions like career changes and adjusting to new roles. In early sessions she focuses on practical self-care and coping strategies. She works with clients to set short- and long-term goals, and to practice boundary setting and clearer communication.
The emphasis is on what to do between sessions to create momentum. Lesley also has experience with blended family issues, caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, and family of origin problems. She helps people manage control issues, forgiveness, guilt and shame, and the challenges that come with separation or divorce.
Her approach is steady and focused on tangible steps people can try right away.
How Lesley’s Approaches Work Online
Lesley uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice patterns of thinking and behavior that keep them stuck, then practices new ways of responding. This approach can help with anxiety, depression, panic, and unhelpful habits by teaching simple skills to use between sessions.She also draws on Solution-Focused Therapy to zoom in on attainable goals and steps that move a person forward quickly. This method is useful for life transitions, career changes, setting boundaries, and solving specific problems in everyday life.
Deciding which approach to use is a collaborative process. The therapist listens to your goals and preferences, then suggests strategies and adjusts them based on what works. Together you’ll monitor progress and change the plan as needed so the work stays practical and relevant.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. These options provide flexibility for busy schedules and can make it easier to keep momentum between appointments. The variety of formats also allows people to choose how they communicate when addressing stress, grief, relationship concerns, or adjustments to new life roles.
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.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Rather than examining the problem at length, this looks at what is already working and builds on it. Sessions tend to be practical and forward-looking, with small achievable steps, which translates readily to shorter online conversations.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Lesley
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point