About Stuart
Stuart Riskin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 28 years in the helping professions. He aims to connect with people who are worn out by stress, anxiety, addiction, grief, or big life changes. Stuart writes and talks plainly so parents and busy adults can understand next steps quickly.
He came to social work after an earlier career in the entertainment industry. That career shift gave him practical life experience alongside clinical skills gained over decades in public and personal settings.
How Stuart works
He combines those perspectives when helping people sort through relationship problems, intimacy issues, parenting strain, or career concerns. Stuart uses a respectful, strength-based stance. He treats clients as collaborators who bring important knowledge about their lives.
Sessions focus on clear goals, skill building, and small steps toward change when adjusting to transitions or coping with mood and anxiety concerns. He draws from several familiar approaches including client-centered work, cognitive behavioral techniques, emotionally-focused ideas, the Gottman method for relationship patterns, and mindfulness practices. Those methods are shaped to fit each person rather than applied the same way to everyone.
Sessions are available in English and can be scheduled from California. Stuart offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so therapy can fit into a busy week. To begin, prospective clients complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a session.
Stuart lists 11 ways of working on the entry:
What Stuart works with
The areas below are the ones Stuart selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 28 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | California |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Approach-driven care available online
Stuart often blends client-centered work and cognitive behavioral therapy to help people shift patterns that cause distress. Client-centered work focuses on listening, validation, and building on a person's strengths to clarify goals and choices. Cognitive behavioral therapy looks at thoughts and behaviors to teach practical skills for managing anxiety, mood, and addictive patterns.He may also use emotionally-focused ideas when relationship patterns are central. Emotionally-focused approaches help identify and change interaction cycles that keep partners or individuals feeling stuck and distant. Together, these approaches give concrete tools and clearer understanding rather than abstract theory alone.
Choosing the right approach is a team effort. Stuart works collaboratively to match methods to a person's goals, values, and everyday life. If one way isn't helping, he will adjust methods and try another direction so therapy fits the person's needs.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make ongoing work easier to schedule. Video is useful for deeper conversations and skill practice, phone can be simpler when bandwidth is limited, and messaging can support short check-ins or coaching between sessions. These options help therapy stay practical and consistent for people with busy lives.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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