Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto

Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with two decades of experience helping people manage stress, grief, anxiety, and life changes. She speaks English and Spanish and aims to create a calm, respectful space where clients can talk about what matters most to them. Her approach is practical and focused on clear goals.

She has worked in hospitals, health centers, and private agencies since earning a Master of Social Work from California State University, Fresno in 1993. That mix of settings shaped a hands-on style that combines problem solving with emotional support. She draws on client-centered principles to meet each person where they are.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a common part of sessions, used to spot unhelpful thinking and try different coping strategies. Solution-Focused Therapy helps set short-term, achievable goals. Mindfulness and Dialectical Behavior Therapy strategies are used when helpful for regulating emotions and tolerating distress.

Maria Clara also addresses concerns such as caregiving stress, compassion fatigue, relationship strain, trauma, parenting questions, and issues that come with aging or serious illness. She works with people facing grief and end-of-life concerns and helps them find practical ways to manage strong feelings and daily tasks.

Her style emphasizes empathy, validation, and active listening. Clients can expect a collaborative process where small steps and concrete tools are taught and practiced. She encourages an initial step toward support and works with each person to identify realistic, meaningful goals.

How her approaches translate to online care

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and building a trusting conversation. Online sessions use that same mindset to let clients set priorities and pace the work. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions and practices small experiments to change them; that work adapts well to virtual conversations and short homework tasks. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers skills for emotion regulation and distress tolerance, taught through guided practice and clear exercises that can be reviewed together during an online session.

Choosing the right approach is collaborative. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and how they respond to different exercises. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan as needed based on what helps most.

Confirm current session options before booking so you know what formats are available. Online therapy can make it easier to fit appointments into a busy week, reduce travel time, allow brief check-ins when needed, and support continuity of care for people managing illness or caregiving responsibilities. The focus remains on practical tools, short-term goals, and steady steps toward better coping and day-to-day functioning.