Margarita Araiza-Johnston, LCSW
Practical therapy for stress, anger, and life change
Book with MargaritaWorks with
- Anger
- Family conflicts
- Parenting issues
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
How Margarita works
Practical facts
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas, California
- Years in practice
- 10
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Session format
- Online, through our partner platform
About Margarita
Margarita Araiza-Johnston is a licensed clinical social worker with ten years of experience. She offers practical, down-to-earth support for people who are struggling with stress, anger, loss, or big life changes. Margarita speaks English and Spanish and works with individuals on everyday problems and deeper struggles.
She uses approaches that focus on how relationships and personal stories shape feelings and behavior. That includes Attachment-Based Therapy to look at how early bonds affect current relationships, Emotionally-Focused Therapy to help identify and work with strong emotions, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to change unhelpful thoughts and habits.
Background and approach
Sessions aim to be straightforward and goal-oriented so people leave with tools they can use right away. Her background includes work in hospice, crisis counseling, and suicide prevention. Margarita also completed programs in mediation and family law mediation, and has experience addressing domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and family systems concerns.
This range of experience informs how she assesses risk and supports people during high-stress moments. People often come to her for issues like parenting challenges, relationship struggles, grief, anxiety, depression, and anger. She also supports concerns related to intimacy, identity, career stress, and caregiving strain.
In sessions she blends practical coaching with therapeutic work to tackle immediate problems while also looking at deeper patterns. Sessions are offered from New Mexico and are tailored to each person’s goals. Margarita helps clients set clear steps for change, and she works at a steady, compassionate pace so progress feels manageable.
What Margarita works with
Everything Margarita lists, in the therapist's own terms. Anger is the reason this directory exists; the rest tells you what usually sits alongside it in Margarita's practice.
- Family conflicts
- Parenting issues
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Approaches Margarita lists
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Therapeutic approaches you can use online
Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current behavior and emotional responses; online sessions can help identify patterns that show up in adult relationships and parenting. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and teaches practical skills to change them, which works well in structured online sessions. Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people name and work with strong feelings and the interaction patterns those feelings create, and it can be effective through video when emotion and interaction are the focus.Choosing the right approach is a team effort. Margarita will talk with each person about goals and preferences, try methods that match those needs, and adjust the plan based on what helps. This collaborative process makes it easier to find an approach that feels useful and realistic for daily life.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls let the therapist and client work face-to-face and read each other's expressions. Phone sessions are a good option when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in fits the day. Live chat and text-based messaging provide quick touchpoints and ongoing support between longer sessions. These options help people fit therapy into busy schedules and sustain progress over time.
Questions people ask about Margarita
What concerns does Margarita commonly address?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, anger, grief, relationship and intimacy issues, parenting and family concerns, and work-related or career stress.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
Her style is practical and collaborative, blending attachment work, emotion-focused techniques, and cognitive-behavioral strategies to build tools and insight that fit everyday life.
What is her clinical background and experience?
She has ten years of experience including work in hospice, crisis counseling, suicide prevention, and family systems, plus training in mediation and family law mediation.
Where is she licensed and based?
She holds LCSW credentials in Hawaii and California and practices from New Mexico.
Which languages are available for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English and Spanish.
What formats are used for therapy sessions?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.
How does cost and billing work?
Fees vary by location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with Margarita?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule based on the therapist's availability.