Darla Cozzarelli , LCSW

Darla Cozzarelli is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in California who brings a community-focused approach to therapy. She holds the credential LCSW, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and earned her degree from the University of Southern California. Her clinical background is rooted in community mental health, where she supported people healing from trauma, navigating homelessness, and living with co-occurring conditions such as substance use, psychotic, and mood disorders.

Darla has worked with clients from many backgrounds and prioritizes honoring each person’s identity and lived experience. She blends professional training with personal insight - her own adoption story and experiences with mental health inform how she listens, responds, and connects. That perspective guides a compassionate, authentic therapeutic stance that values curiosity and respect.

Her clinical strengths include crisis intervention and treatment planning, helping people stabilize during acute moments while also developing longer-term strategies for change. She has supported individuals facing trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, low self-esteem, and addiction, and works with related concerns such as attachment challenges, codependency, communication difficulties, and impulsivity.

Darla’s practice is person-centered and trauma-informed, drawing from evidence-based methods to promote insight and self-efficacy at a pace the client sets. She emphasizes collaboration and aims to walk alongside clients as they pursue growth and healing. She does not provide crisis or emergency services - if a crisis is present, call 911 or 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care with Darla Cozzarelli

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the person’s own experience, offering empathy, validation, and collaborative goal setting so clients can explore identity, relationships, and self-worth at their own pace. This approach is helpful for issues like low self-esteem, attachment concerns, and the emotional aftermath of trauma.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps people identify and shift unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. It is practical and goal-oriented, often used for anxiety, depression, and problem-solving around daily challenges.

Motivational Interviewing is a conversational style that supports a person’s own motivation to change, often used when addressing substance use, ambivalence, or steps toward healthier habits. Darla integrates these approaches to match each client’s needs and goals.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Darla works with clients to explore what methods fit best given their concerns, preferences, and pace of progress, adjusting strategies as the therapeutic relationship develops.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, maintain continuity of care from different locations, and choose the format that feels most comfortable for individual needs.