Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto
Compassionate, practical therapy for life transitions
LCSW Florida
- Experience
- 20 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Relationship, Family
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English, Spanish
About Maria
Maria Clara Salazar-Pretto is a Florida-based LCSW with two decades of clinical experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, relationship and family challenges, trauma and abuse, depression, grief, and a wide range of life transitions.
Background and approach
Bilingual in English and Spanish, she draws on work across hospitals, health centers, and personal agencies to tailor practical, action-oriented care that fits each person’s situation. Her practice blends client-centered principles with evidence-informed techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness strategies, and solution-focused approaches.
She frames therapy as a collaborative process that emphasizes validation, active listening, and skill-building to reduce unhelpful thinking and improve coping. Over time she helps clients develop tools for emotional regulation, clearer communication, and realistic goal pursuit.
Trained in both Colombian and U.S. cultural contexts, she uses her multicultural background to relate to diverse perspectives and life stories. Maria Clara emphasizes pragmatic steps toward wellbeing, inviting clients to try approaches that feel right for them while keeping goals and progress central to the work.
Practical approaches for online therapy and flexible care
Maria Clara uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, providing concrete strategies for anxiety, depression, and stress management. Client-centered therapy is also central to her work, emphasizing empathy, validation, and collaborative goal-setting so that each person’s values and preferences guide the pace and focus of treatment. She also integrates elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills useful for intense mood swings, relationship conflicts, and high-stress situations.Choosing the right approach is a shared process. Maria Clara partners with clients to evaluate goals, symptoms, strengths, and lifestyle factors, and she adjusts techniques over time to match what’s most effective and acceptable for the individual. This collaborative stance helps clients try practical tools and measure progress together rather than committing to a single method from the start.
Online therapy offers flexibility that supports that collaborative process: sessions can take place through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging so clients can maintain continuity of care around work, family, or travel. These formats make it easier to practice strategies in everyday settings, fit appointments into busy schedules, and access bilingual care from Florida or other locations when international connections are needed.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
20+ years
Licensed
Florida
Languages
English, Spanish