Marla Monk , LCSW, LISW-CP

Marla Monk, LCSW, LISW-CP is a licensed social worker based in South Carolina who brings five years of focused clinical experience supporting individuals, couples, and families through stress, anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, and life transitions. She works with people facing grief and loss, parenting and caregiver stress, intimacy and sexual assault recovery, career and identity concerns, and a range of mood and adjustment difficulties. Marla also has a clinical focus on issues affecting veterans, first responders, and military-connected families, and she supports clients navigating adoption and foster care concerns, family of origin dynamics, and recovery from domestic violence.

Her practice integrates evidence-informed methods to address both individual symptoms and relational patterns. Marla draws on Client-Centered principles to create an empathetic, collaborative space, uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to teach practical skills for managing thoughts and behaviors, and applies elements of Gottman Method and DBT-informed strategies when working with couples and people managing emotional regulation. She is trained in trauma-focused approaches including Trauma-Focused CBT and Cognitive Processing Therapy, and incorporates motivational interviewing techniques when readiness and change are central concerns.

Marla approaches care with a strengths-based, goal-oriented stance, working collaboratively to tailor treatment to each person or couple. She aims to help clients build coping skills, improve communication, and regain a sense of agency while honoring the complexity of their experiences. Therapy is offered in English and designed to meet a range of needs from short-term coping to deeper relational and trauma work.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Marla uses Client-Centered Therapy to create a respectful, nonjudgmental space where the client’s perspective guides the work - this approach helps people feel heard and supports personal growth and self-directed change. She also applies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify and adjust unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns, offering practical skills for anxiety, depression, and stress management. For couples and relationship work, elements of the Gottman Method are used to improve communication, rebuild trust, and address conflict in measurable ways.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Marla collaborates with each client to determine which methods fit best based on goals, preferences, and presenting concerns. She tailors interventions over time and checks in regularly to ensure the work remains relevant and effective.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which provide flexibility for scheduling, continuity of care, and access from home or another convenient location. These remote formats make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives, maintain progress between meetings, and adjust the pace of therapy to individual needs.