Valerie LaPorte, LICSW

Valerie LaPorte is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) practicing in Minnesota with more than 21 years of professional experience, including over a decade in direct clinical work. She is approved by the Minnesota Board of Social Work to serve as a clinical and non-clinical licensing supervisor, and she has spent much of her career supporting people across the lifespan, from young children to older adults. Her background includes extensive work with individuals experiencing serious mental illness as well as people facing depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, anger management concerns, family conflict, trauma from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, incarceration-related challenges, and disability-related issues.

Valerie’s therapeutic style is empathetic and goal-directed, grounded in approachability, attentive listening, and practical problem solving. She emphasizes treating each person with dignity, respect, and compassion while collaborating to identify and reach meaningful goals. Her clinical toolbox draws from several evidence-informed perspectives, including solution-focused brief therapy, strengths-based approaches, and cognitive behavioral therapy, and she tailors treatment plans to fit each client’s unique needs and circumstances. Valerie has worked with diverse populations and a broad range of presenting concerns, bringing experience, patience, and a commitment to helping clients feel heard and empowered.

She welcomes the opportunity to work with individuals and families seeking support through life transitions, trauma recovery, mood and anxiety management, relationship struggles, parenting and caregiver stress, attention and impulse-related challenges, and other complex issues.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Options

Valerie integrates Attachment-Based Therapy into her work to explore how early relationships shape current patterns of connection and emotion. This approach can help people who struggle with trust, intimacy, abandonment concerns, or recurring relationship conflicts by identifying attachment styles and fostering safer relational patterns.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients identify and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT is practical and goal-focused, often helpful for anxiety, depression, stress management, and symptoms that respond to structured skill-building.

Valerie frames therapy as a collaborative process - she partners with each person to determine which approaches best match their needs, goals, and preferences. Together they assess what feels most useful and adapt interventions over time to find the best fit.

Online therapy with Valerie is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, providing flexibility for different schedules and comfort levels. These options make it easier to access licensed professionals from home, while preserving continuity of care during life transitions, travel, or busy weeks.