Maria Frassinelli Sierra, LCSW, LICSW

Maria Frassinelli Sierra is a Connecticut-based licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of professional experience, focused largely on medical social work and support for people facing serious health challenges. She brings deep experience assisting individuals and families who are navigating a cancer diagnosis as well as other chronic illnesses, and she has particular expertise in end-of-life care, hospice needs, grief, and loss.

Maria also works with people managing major life transitions, career and executive coaching, and issues related to LGBTQ concerns. Her practice includes helping clients cope with stress, anxiety, compassion fatigue, shifting life roles, and questions about life purpose during midlife and later years. She also addresses caregiver stress, fertility and pregnancy-related concerns, chronic pain and illness, and financial or work-related pressures.

She holds LCSW and LICSW credentials - Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker - and approaches therapy from a collaborative stance that honors each person as the expert in their own story. Maria aims to help lighten burdens, build on existing strengths, and support clients as they move through change and loss.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Maria uses evidence-informed methods to tailor care to each person's needs. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - ACT - focuses on helping people clarify their values and take meaningful action even when difficult thoughts or feelings are present; it is often helpful for people wrestling with anxiety, chronic illness, or major life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - CBT - teaches practical strategies to identify and reframe unhelpful thinking patterns and to build coping skills, which can be useful for stress, anxiety, and mood concerns. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a supportive, nonjudgmental relationship that centers the person's own experience and strengths, making it valuable for grief, identity work, and life changes.

Finding the right approach is part of the process; Maria collaborates with each person to determine which methods fit their goals, preferences, and circumstances, and she adapts strategies as needs evolve. This collaborative process helps ensure therapy feels relevant and manageable.

Online therapy with Maria is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, providing flexibility for busy schedules, caregiving responsibilities, or mobility limitations. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care and to access licensed professionals and therapists from home or other convenient locations.