Mali Austriyak Mikhli, LCSW-R - Therapist in New York

About Mali

Mali Austriyak Mikhli is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with four decades of experience in New York. She chose social work early in life after seeing how a thoughtful, empathic therapist can change someone's quality of life. As an LCSW-R she offers a blend of supportive care and psychotherapy aimed at helping people manage stress, grief, trauma, and life transitions.

Mikhli keeps sessions warm and interactive. She listens first and then helps clients identify manageable steps forward.

Background and approach

Her work often involves practical strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy and attention to feelings and relationships through client-centered and emotionally focused techniques. She has worked across many ages, cultures, and faiths, and has particular experience with bereavement, post-traumatic stress, and disruptions from early childhood trauma.

Parents looking for guidance on parenting, family dynamics, and blended family issues will find her practical orientation useful. Sessions may address anxiety, depression, anger, self-esteem, intimacy concerns, career questions, and coping with big life changes. Mikhli also supports people dealing with adoption and foster care matters, caregiver stress, attachment concerns, and family of origin problems.

She offers services in English, Spanish, and Yiddish, and accepts international clients. The tone in sessions is respectful and compassionate, with an emphasis on collaboration and clear steps you can try between meetings.

Therapeutic approaches for online family and life concerns

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and creating a respectful space where clients set the pace. It helps people feel heard and supported while they figure out what matters most to them.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and actions affect feelings and teaches practical skills to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and change unhelpful patterns. It is useful for stress, depression, and many everyday problems.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people identify and express core emotions and repair important relationships. It is often used when intimacy, attachment, or family connections are central concerns.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful, then adjust methods together as needs change.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. These choices make it easier to fit sessions into busy family schedules, manage care from different locations, and stay connected between meetings. Licensed professionals can use these formats to teach skills, review progress, and try new approaches in ways that match a client’s daily life.

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.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)

Attends to the emotions underneath a recurring argument or distance, and to the attachment needs driving them. Often used where a relationship keeps returning to the same painful loop.

Frequently asked questions

What concerns does she address?

Mikhli works with many issues including stress, anxiety, grief, depression, trauma, parenting, relationship and family problems, and life transitions.

What is her therapeutic style?

She uses a warm, interactive style that combines listening with practical strategies from cognitive behavioral and emotionally focused work.

How much experience does she have?

She has 40 years of experience as a social worker and clinician in New York.

What are her credentials and where is she based?

Mikhli is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW-R, holding New York license number 020384 and practices from New York.

Which languages are supported?

Sessions are offered in English, Spanish, and Yiddish.

What session formats are available?

She meets with clients via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging.

How are sessions paid for?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

How do I begin working together?

Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Stress, Anxiety
Relationship issues
Family conflicts

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience: 40 years
Licensed: New York
Languages: English, Spanish, Yiddish

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