Luciana Smalls , LPC

Luciana Smalls is a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor practicing in South Carolina with more than eight years of experience as a mental health professional and over 20 years working in the human services field. She has supported a diverse range of clients facing depression, anxiety, adoption and foster care issues, relationship and parenting challenges, life transitions, ADHD, ODD, and substance use concerns.

Her therapeutic style blends warmth with challenge and steady support, focusing on skill building and practical strategies to turn difficulties into strengths. She treats each person as an individual, honoring cultural background, values, sexual orientation, and identity while offering respectful and compassionate care. Luciana works collaboratively to develop tailored treatment plans that reflect each client’s needs and goals.

Her clinical approach integrates cognitive-behavioral and humanistic methods alongside motivational interviewing, mindfulness practices, narrative therapy, and creative techniques. These approaches are used to help clients develop coping skills, improve relationships, manage emotions, and move through grief or trauma at a pace that feels right for them. Luciana holds an LPC credential - a state license to practice professional counseling - and she looks forward to supporting those ready to take steps toward change.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Client-centered therapy focuses on the client’s own experience, offering a nonjudgmental environment where the therapist follows the client’s lead and supports personal growth and self-awareness. This approach is helpful for people navigating identity, relationship, or life transition issues.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients identify and shift unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors through practical skills and exercises. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, stress, and addictive behaviors because it teaches actionable coping tools.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness. It can be especially useful for intense emotions, impulsivity, relationship conflicts, and those seeking concrete skills to manage crises.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Luciana works collaboratively with clients and licensed professionals to determine which methods best match a person’s goals, preferences, and present concerns, adjusting the plan as progress unfolds.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to engage - video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging - making it easier to fit sessions into busy lives and maintain continuity of care. These options increase accessibility for people balancing work, family, or caregiving responsibilities while still receiving focused, skills-oriented support from a trained therapist.