Debra Sarno
Experienced LCSW blending practical therapies
LCSW New York
- Experience
- 30 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Grief, Parenting
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Debra
Debra Sarno brings a cognitive behavioral orientation together with client-centered, mindfulness, solution-focused, and hypnotherapy influences to support people facing a wide range of life challenges.
Background and approach
She is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) practicing in New York with three decades of clinical experience, and she draws on work in clinics, hospitals, and schools to inform her approach.
Debra emphasizes practical strategies and collaborative goal-setting to address concerns such as anxiety, depression, grief, stress, relationship and family difficulties, trauma and abuse, and issues related to parenting, intimacy, career, and coping with life changes. Her practice blends evidence-informed techniques with attention to each person’s strengths and preferences.
Sessions commonly incorporate mindfulness skills, problem-focused planning, and cognitive strategies to reframe unhelpful patterns, and hypnotherapy techniques may be used when appropriate. Debra aims to create a compassionate, nurturing therapeutic environment in which clients and therapist co-create a treatment plan tailored to maximize functioning and meet individual goals.
She counsels on a broad set of additional topics including blended family dynamics, caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, personality and mood disorders, workplace concerns, and women’s issues.
Evidence-Informed Approaches Delivered Online
Debra integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness Therapy alongside client-centered and solution-focused ideas to tailor care to each person’s needs. CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and is often used for anxiety, depression, and mood-related concerns. Mindfulness Therapy helps develop present-moment awareness and coping skills for stress, chronic pain, and emotional regulation. Client-centered methods emphasize an empathetic, nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship that supports clients in exploring goals and making meaningful changes.Finding the right approach is treated as a collaborative process. Debra works with clients to assess which methods best match their goals, preferences, and challenges, and she adjusts techniques over time so therapy remains practical and goal-oriented. This flexibility helps ensure that interventions feel relevant and useful for each person.
Online sessions are available by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging, offering flexibility for busy schedules and varying comfort levels with technology. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care while fitting treatment into everyday life, and they support working on skills, planning, and real-time problem-solving from wherever clients are located in New York.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
30+ years
Licensed
New York
Languages
English