Alicia Gard, LMHC

Alicia Gard is a licensed mental health counselor in Florida with nine years of clinical experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, depression, stress, addiction, grief, and big life changes. Alicia aims to meet each person where they are and builds treatment around individual needs.

Before working as a counselor Alicia developed experience supporting people with trauma, unresolved grief, and substance use concerns. She also addresses issues such as low self-esteem, impulsivity, anger, ADHD, and relationship and family stress. Her background includes work with complex, co-occurring problems and questions about attachment and abandonment.

Her approach draws on several practical methods that focus on thoughts, emotions, and behavior. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to notice patterns that keep problems going. She combines this with acceptance-based ideas to help people clarify values and respond differently to difficult feelings.

Alicia also incorporates attachment-informed work to look at how early relationships affect current responses. Dialectical behavior strategies are used to teach emotion regulation and coping skills for intense moments. Sessions are collaborative and paced to each person's needs.

People who choose Alicia can expect a respectful, down-to-earth style. She aims to create a calm space for honest conversation and problem-solving. Readers are encouraged to consider whether this practical, relationship-focused approach matches their priorities before starting.

Therapeutic approaches that translate to online work

Alicia uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings and choose actions that match what matters most. ACT can be useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes.

She also uses Attachment-Based Therapy to look at how early relationship patterns shape current reactions. This approach helps people understand trust, closeness, and recurring conflicts in relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Alicia will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and how they respond to different techniques. That conversation guides whether to emphasize values and acceptance, attachment patterns, cognitive tools, or emotion regulation skills.

If you are considering online therapy, check which session formats the therapist currently offers before booking. Confirming format options helps match sessions to daily life - for example, choosing a shorter check-in that fits during a lunch break or a video session when a visual exchange is helpful. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule without promising a specific format; be sure to ask about session length and how scheduling is handled when you start.