Marcia PontoniLCSW

Marcia Pontoni is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in California with 25 years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people manage anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strain, and life transitions. Her approach is gentle and respectful, aimed at helping someone feel heard and understood in the moment.

Marcia blends client-centered work with cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness. That means sessions often center on what matters most to the client, while also trying practical strategies to shift unhelpful thoughts and build new habits. She adapts conversations and goals to each person's situation rather than following a fixed template.

Her background includes long-term work supporting people through loss, stress, and trauma, and addressing issues such as addiction, intimacy concerns, anger, and compassion fatigue. She also helps clients facing aging or serious illness-related challenges, including hospice and end-of-life concerns.

Marcia aims to make therapy collaborative. She listens for personal values and strengths, then offers tools and reflections that fit the client's goals. Sessions mix emotional support, problem-solving, and skill-building depending on what a person needs that week.

People who choose her often want practical steps alongside empathetic listening. She encourages small, manageable changes and supports clients as they practice those changes between appointments. Marcia describes the work as a partnership toward clearer choices and greater day-to-day coping.

How her approaches inform online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening, respect, and following the client's lead. The goal is to build trust and clarity by centering conversations on what matters most to the person. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts and behaviors interact and introduces concrete exercises to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and change unhelpful patterns.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. She will collaborate with each person to decide which methods to try first and adjust as goals evolve. Sessions can blend listening, skill practice, and brief homework between meetings so progress can be tested in everyday life.

The biography indicates she works best using video and telephone. If you plan to meet online, confirm the current session options before booking so you know whether video or phone is available. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time while keeping regular contact with a licensed professional.