Susanne Loar , LCSW

With 15 years of clinical experience, Susanne Loar brings a holistic, person-centered approach to supporting people through addiction, relationship challenges, grief, trauma, and other life transitions. She practices as an LCSW, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and draws on a blend of clinical training and lived experience to help clients build confidence, find fulfillment, and recover a sense of joy in daily life.

Susanne centers her work on collaboration and deep listening, creating a space where clients can explore how symptoms once served important purposes and how new strengths can emerge from those insights. She has extensive knowledge of addictive disorders and practical experience helping individuals and families implement sustainable changes when substances or behaviors have become harmful. She welcomes conversations about how a partner's or a child's struggles with addiction affect family wellbeing and functioning.

Originally from Germany, Susanne has lived and traveled in many countries, a background that informs her curiosity about human diversity and her eclectic clinical style. She stays current with research on interventions while honoring each person as an individual with a unique story. Her clinical background includes work in inpatient and outpatient substance use disorder programs, public mental health agencies, inpatient mental health units at hospitals, and neonatal intensive care units. She also supervises associate social workers and substance use specialists, and she focuses on meeting clients where they are, listening compassionately, and celebrating progress along the way.

Approaches That Translate Well to Online Care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on identifying personal values and taking committed actions that align with what matters most. It helps clients who are struggling with anxiety, depression, addictive behaviors, or life transitions by teaching skills to accept difficult thoughts while moving toward meaningful goals.

Attachment-Based Therapy explores patterns of relating that originate in early relationships and influence current connections with partners, family members, and others. It is useful for people working through intimacy-related issues, codependency, family problems, and struggles with trust or emotional closeness.

Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and meeting clients where they are. This approach supports people coping with stress, grief, self-esteem concerns, and complex life changes by providing a validating environment for self-exploration.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Susanne works with clients to assess needs, goals, and preferences and adapts methods so therapy fits each person rather than forcing a single model. Licensed professionals and therapists often blend techniques to address the whole person and practical challenges in daily life.

Online therapy delivers the same therapeutic tools through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, offering flexibility for busy schedules and varied comfort levels. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care, access sessions from home or work, and choose the format that best supports progress and engagement.