Clarise Ballesteros, LCSW (she/her/ella)

Welcome, I’m Clarise, a Colombian-American licensed clinical social worker. As a therapist, social worker, and clinical supervisor, I believe that every person is inherently worthy of being seen, heard, and known.

I’m here to walk alongside you and meet you where you’re at at any age and stage of life. Whether you are exploring something new, figuring out who you are, or grieving what used to be and what you thought your future would look like, you are welcome here.

I have supported therapy clients in a variety of settings including an elementary school, university counseling center, refugee resettlement agency, health center for families with mixed documentation status, Alzheimer’s disease research center, and community clinic. I enjoy working with young children to older adults and everything in between.

I am especially passionate about helping people explore their identity (ethnicity/race, gender, and sexuality), combat minority stress, live with grief (loss due to separation, migration, end of relationships, loss of the anticipated future, and loss after death), and adjust to life changes (divorce, high school to college, migration, caregiving, families dealing with dementia, changes in political climate, etc.).

When working with others, I focus on being culturally curious rather than assuming cultural competence – you will always be the expert of your lived experience. Differences that exist between us are to be celebrated and conflict is an opportunity for communication and deeper understanding. My therapeutic and supervisory approach is centered in facilitating a collaborative process, rooted in social justice and evidence-based practices, where we work together to identify what you want to work on, create a game plan to get you there, and engage in open communication and feedback to ensure that you are getting the most appropriate and effective support – with fun along the way.

I weave together a variety of therapeutic approaches depending on what is most appropriate for what you are going through and what comes up in each session. Some of these approaches include trauma-informed therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), somatic therapy, attachment-based therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), grief work, relational therapy, person-centered/humanistic therapy, narrative therapy, parts work, LGBTQ+ affirming therapy, and neurodivergent affirming therapy.

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Growing up, my father called me, “lorita” (little parrot) because of how much I loved to tell stories. These stories came from listening to my family members describe their lives and our family history. Through their stories which became my own, I saw not just the ingredients of my life before it began, but I was able to make meaning of the ways in which the environment and each person’s lived experiences had impacted who my family members were and who I would become.

I became a therapist because I believe that everyone deserves a space to share their stories and make meaning of where they come from, who they are, and where they want to go.