Carl Pickel
Experienced LCSW guiding practical change
LCSW California
- Experience
- 30 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Addictions, Trauma and abuse
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Languages
- English
About Carl
Carl Pickel is a California-licensed clinical social worker with 30 years of professional experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, depression, and major life transitions.
Background and approach
He approaches each case with respect, sensitivity, and compassion, adapting conversations and treatment plans to match an individual’s particular needs and circumstances. His work also addresses related concerns such as communication difficulties, forgiveness, guilt and shame, isolation and loneliness, questions about life purpose, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress, self-love, and social anxiety.
Carl integrates practical, evidence-informed methods into his practice to help clients develop coping tools and move toward clearer goals. He emphasizes collaborative planning so that therapy reflects the client’s priorities and pace.
New clients are met with a nonjudgmental stance that values the courage it takes to begin therapy and aims to create a steady, constructive path forward.
Using Structured Approaches in Online Therapy
CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors to reduce symptoms like anxiety and depression; in online sessions this work often involves setting clear goals, practicing new skills between meetings, and reviewing progress together. EMDR is an approach used for trauma-related difficulties that combines focused attention with guided processing to help reduce the emotional intensity of distressing memories; delivered online, EMDR techniques are adapted to fit video or phone formats and focus on pacing that feels tolerable for the client. Mindfulness Therapy teaches present-moment awareness and acceptance skills that can reduce rumination and improve emotional regulation, and these practices translate well to brief guided exercises during remote sessions.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss your needs, preferences, and goals and work with you to try methods that suit your situation, adjusting strategies as progress and feedback indicate. This partnership helps ensure care is aligned with what matters most to the client.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility: video calls allow face-to-face interaction, phone sessions can be useful when video is not convenient, and live chat or text-based messaging provide ongoing access between sessions. These options make it easier to fit regular work on concerns like stress, anxiety, trauma recovery, and life transitions into a busy schedule while keeping the therapeutic focus consistent.
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Areas of expertise
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
30+ years
Licensed
California
Languages
English