About Dedra
Dedra McIntosh is a licensed clinical social worker who focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and the effects of trauma. She guides clients through relationship struggles and works to rebuild self-esteem in simple, concrete ways. Her practice emphasizes Somatic work alongside talk-based methods.
Sessions often include attention to how the body holds emotion as well as conversations about thoughts and behaviors. This combination can help people feel calmer in their bodies and clearer about next steps.
Background and approach
Dedra draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help clients notice painful thoughts without getting stuck. She uses Client-Centered and Attachment-Based ideas to create a steady, respectful space for exploring family history and attachment wounds. The approach is practical and hands-on rather than abstract.
She often supports people dealing with abandonment, adoption and foster care histories, caregiver stress, communication problems, and feelings of emptiness. Other areas she addresses include eating and food-related issues, domestic violence, and first responder stress. Sessions focus on small, doable changes that build safety and trust over time.
Dedra holds a Florida LCSW license, FL LCSW SW25455, and has three years of experience. Conversations are straightforward and rooted in clients' real-life concerns. The goal is to help each person find clearer footing and more ease in daily life.
How therapeutic approaches work in online sessions
Somatic work brings attention to body sensations and breathing to help people notice where stress and emotion sit in the body; it can be helpful for anxiety, trauma reactions, and chronic tension. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on noticing difficult thoughts and choosing actions that reflect personal values, which can be useful for anxiety, depression, and decision-related stress. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns formed in early relationships and how they show up now, which is often useful for communication problems and trust issues.Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will collaborate with each person to see which methods fit their needs, goals, and comfort level. Sessions may combine approaches and adjust over time so the work feels practical and aligned with what the client wants to change.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy days, continue work from home, and try different formats to see what helps most. Licensed professionals can use these tools to guide breathing, notice body sensations, talk through thoughts, and plan small steps forward.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she help with?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her professional background and experience?
Where is she licensed to practice?
Which languages are available for sessions?
Can international clients work with her?
What session formats are offered online?
How does the subscription and cost work?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Gottman Method
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Systemic Therapy
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Florida
- Languages
- English