Leslie Worley, LCSW-C

Sometimes we feel invisible and find ourselves seeking a deep sense of belonging. Even though painful life experiences, trauma, neurodevelopmental differences, or signals from society may contribute to this lack of belonging, there is a way forward. Though at times challenging, this work can be deeply meaningful and life changing. The contextual and acceptance based perspective I work from has been profoundly effective with people who find themselves engaging in behaviors that are harmful to themselves or to their quality of life. I’m passionate about working with persons who identify as having difficulty emotionally regulating, resulting in self harm behaviors such as cutting, restriction, binging, purging or having difficulty building meaningful relationships. This therapy approach focuses on targeting ineffective behaviors, habits, and unhelpful core beliefs and transforming them into effective ways of living by offering empathy, authenticity, and acceptance while simultaneously challenging current solutions to the core problem. I earned my Masters in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in LGBTQIA advocacy and engaging in clinical work and community organizing. After graduate school, when working within the foster care system and providing community based therapy, I had substantial training and gained experience working with persons who have experienced complex and ongoing trauma. In 2018, I developed a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program at a community based therapy clinic, which made this evidenced-based, highly effective therapy modality accessible to marginalized communities who typically would not have access to this high cost care. In this process, I completed a training program in “Contextually Focused DBT” which is a modality that combines both DBT and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ) and was developed by Dr. Paul Holmes. This training included a year long academic fellowship program at the University of Chicago for Contextually Focused DBT. I believe therapy is a truly collaborative effort for healing, and as such, I seek to build an authentic helping relationship with my clients. I’m dedicated to helping people learn how to live by their values instead of feeling like their emotions and thoughts control or overwhelm their lives. I engage in this way of learning and living in the same way I teach and coach my clients. I also use a lot of humor, as well as direct and transparent communication. If you think this might be a good fit, please reach out for a consultation! I provide individual, couples, and family therapy and my specialties include working with people with complex trauma, patterns of self harm, eating disorders, body image issues, anxiety, obsessive/compulsive tendencies, emotional dysregulation, and relationship issues.