Betty Laird

Experienced LCSW guiding recovery and growth

LCSW Indiana

Experience: 40 years in practice
Focus areas: Stress, Anxiety, Trauma and abuse, Grief
Approaches: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Attachment-Based Therapy
Languages: English

About Betty

Betty Laird is an LCSW based in Indiana with forty years of clinical experience. She frames her work around a respect for people’s complexity and resilience, offering a steady therapeutic presence where clients can explore pain, loss, and shifts in identity.

Background and approach

Her practice emphasizes a collaborative relationship that supports people as they voice hard experiences and reconsider patterns that no longer serve them. Her style blends cognitive behavioral strategies with attachment-informed and client-centered approaches, drawing on emotion-focused ideas when relationships and intimacy are central concerns.

Betty has worked extensively with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, compassion fatigue, bipolar concerns, and a range of coping challenges including ADHD and eating or sleeping difficulties. She also brings experience with adoption and foster care, caregiver stress, chronic illness, body image, and communication problems.

Clients can expect a respectful, nonjudgmental atmosphere where therapeutic connection is used as a primary avenue for change. She values exploring perceptions of self and others and, when helpful, incorporates creative techniques such as cinematherapy to illuminate coping styles and relationship dynamics.

Approaches That Guide Online Work and Healing

Betty often uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help clients identify and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can be useful for anxiety, depression, stress, and coping with life changes. Attachment-based work is also part of her practice and focuses on patterns in close relationships, helping people understand and change how they connect with others to improve intimacy and communication.

She approaches treatment as a collaborative process, recognizing that the right approach emerges from ongoing conversation. The therapist and client will explore goals, preferences, and responses to different methods to find what fits best, adjusting techniques over time as needs evolve.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging, providing flexibility for varying schedules and comfort levels. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care during busy or transitional periods and let clients choose the format that best supports their participation and progress.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns does she address?

She works with a broad range of issues including stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, compassion fatigue, bipolar challenges, relationship and intimacy concerns, ADHD, eating and sleeping problems, and many related struggles.

What is her therapeutic style like?

Her approach is collaborative and nonjudgmental, using the therapeutic relationship as a change vehicle and integrating cognitive behavioral, attachment-based, client-centered, and emotionally-focused elements as fits the individual.

How much experience does she have?

She brings forty years of clinical experience as a licensed clinical social worker, working with a wide variety of emotional and relational concerns.

What are her credentials and where is she based?

She is an LCSW licensed in Indiana with license number IN LCSW 34000141A and maintains her practice in that state.

Does she communicate in other languages or accept international clients?

She conducts therapy in English and is not currently accepting international clients.

Which session formats are available?

Sessions are offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to accommodate different preferences and schedules.

How is cost determined for sessions?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.

What are the steps to begin working with her?

Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and then scheduling sessions according to the therapist's availability.

Areas of expertise

Primary focus

Stress, Anxiety Trauma and abuse Grief Depression Compassion fatigue

Also works with

LGBTRelationship issuesFamily conflictsIntimacy-related issuesEating disordersSleeping disordersParenting issuesAnger managementSelf esteemCareer difficultiesBipolar disorderCoping with life changes ADHD

Additional focus areas

AbandonmentAdoption and foster careAging and geriatric issuesAttachment issuesAutism and Asperger SyndromeAvoidant personalityBlended family issuesBody imageCancerCaregiver issues and stressChronic pain, illness, and disabilityCo-morbidityCodependencyCommitment issuesCommunication problemsControl issuesCoping with natural or human-caused disasterDependent personalityDisruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)DissociationDivorce and separationDomestic violenceEating and food-related issuesEmptinessFamily of origin issuesFamily problemsFertility issuesFirst responder issuesForgivenessGender dysphoriaGuilt and shameHospice and end-of-life counselingImpulsivityInfidelityIsolation / lonelinessJealousyLife purposeMidlife crisisMood disordersNarcissismObsessions, compulsions, and OCD Panic disorder and panic attacksParanoiaPersonality disordersPhobiasPolyamory / non-monogamous relationshipsPostpartum depressionPost-traumatic stressPregnancy and childbirthPrejudice and discriminationProcess addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)Self-harmSelf-loveSexual assault and abuseSocial anxiety and phobiaSomatizationTrichotillomaniaVisually impairedWomen's issuesWorkplace issuesYoung adult issues

Therapeutic approaches

Attachment-Based TherapyClient-Centered TherapyCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)Existential TherapyMindfulness TherapyMotivational InterviewingNarrative TherapyPsychodynamic TherapySolution-Focused TherapyTrauma-Focused Therapy

Experience

40+ years

Licensed

Indiana

Languages

English