About Lisa
Lisa Tomala is a Licensed Professional Counselor who helps people dealing with trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, addiction, and stress. She also supports those coping with relationship struggles, parenting strain, sleep problems, anger, low self-esteem, career questions, and ADHD. Lisa brings 20 years of clinical experience to her work in Virginia.
Her style is practical and steady. She listens for the events and patterns that shape a person’s reactions. Conversations focus on what is causing current symptoms and what small changes might ease day-to-day life.
Background and approach
Sessions move at the client’s pace and aim to replace survival habits with healthier ways of living. Lisa draws from several well-known therapy approaches and tailors them to each person’s situation. She pays attention to early life experiences and how they influence present behavior.
For clients who wish to include faith perspectives, she can weave in Thomistic philosophy when appropriate. People describe her work as collaborative and goal-focused. She helps clients reframe thinking, develop coping skills, and build new routines that support recovery and growth.
Practical techniques and discussion about meaning are both part of the process. Outside of clinical work she spends time with family, paints, hikes, and cares for an Australian Cattle Dog. Her combination of years in the field and a calm, thoughtful approach guides people through difficult transitions and toward a more authentic life.
Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care
Lisa often uses cognitive-behavioral ideas to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and try small behavior changes that reduce symptoms like anxiety or depression. These techniques focus on practical steps that can change daily habits and mood.She also draws on psychodynamic concepts to look at how early life experiences shape current reactions. This approach helps people understand repeated patterns and the roots of certain behavior over time.
Finding the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will work with the client to decide which techniques feel most helpful based on goals, needs, and personal preferences. Methods can be adjusted as progress unfolds so sessions stay relevant and effective.
Online therapy offers flexibility in how people meet. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions use less bandwidth and are useful when being on camera isn’t ideal, and live chat or text-based messaging can support brief check-ins or ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life while keeping work focused on the client’s goals and progress.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Bipolar disorder
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Virginia
- Languages
- English