About Me
Chelsea Garcia, LCSW-S
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Approved Supervisor (LCSW-S) based in Central Texas. I received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Boston University and a Masters of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin. For over ten years, I have worked with teenagers, adults and families in a variety of settings including outpatient, schools, residential treatment, and healthcare settings.
I believe relationships are the most valuable element of any professional experience. As a manager, I helped people work toward finding their professional selves. As a nonprofit leader, I developed programming and streamlined operations to support my colleagues in fulfilling our mission. As a therapist, I help individuals and families to heal, connect and grow.
Outside of work, I spend time with my husband, three children and our dog. I enjoy creating and sharing food with those I love and spending time outside gardening and exploring our city. While I was born and raised in Northern California, Austin has been my home for over fifteen years. Some factors that impact my worldview include, a multicultural and bi-racial upbringing, a childhood and adolescence spent traveling and exploring a variety of cultures different from my own. Through these experiences, I grew to appreciate the uniqueness and the connection points that define each of us as individuals within our communities.
My Approach
I will work with you to help you identify how your background and your current life circumstances impact your identity, your coping skills and how you engage in the world around you. I will help you work toward your goals and discover the truths that exist within you. I believe that progress in therapy is founded in honest self reflection within the therapeutic relationship. And so, I sometimes challenge my clients to face the truths that are most uncomfortable. Challenge requires a foundation of trust and honesty. And it works because my clients know that I deeply care about them and am invested in their success.
While many seek counseling at a low point in their lives, what I love about this work is the opportunity to witness people’s strengths. I am strengths based with a lens of self compassion. In our world today, we often focus on addressing deficiencies rather than honing in on strengths. In my experience, individuals feel the most self assurance and confidence when they are working within their strengths.
I help you create an individualized menu of skills, strategies, and supports that pull from a variety of evidence based therapeutic modalities including:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Mindfulness and more…
I believe the value of these modalities can be multiplied when thoughtfully and intentionally paired to best support each unique client’s needs. But, truth be told, far more valuable than any modality used is the therapeutic relationship formed in our space together.
