Margarita Araiza-Johnston, LCSW

Margarita Araiza-Johnston is a licensed clinical social worker who focuses on thoughts and everyday habits that affect family life and personal well-being. She draws on ten years of clinical experience to help people navigate stress, anxiety, grief, relationship friction, and parenting challenges. Margarita speaks English and Spanish and practices in New Mexico. She trained with a Master of Social Work from Tulane University and began her career supporting children and families in Illinois and California. Early roles included hospice social work and crisis and suicide counseling in Louisiana, where she also worked with domestic violence and child protection issues. Her background includes mediation and family law mediation coursework. Margarita uses practical approaches that focus on relationships and what people do day to day. She works with attachment concerns, communication problems, codependency, and intimacy-related issues. She also helps clients facing life changes, fertility and aging concerns, and the emotional fallout from trauma or loss. In sessions she applies methods such as Attachment-Based Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Narrative Therapy to match a person’s needs. These approaches are used to help people think through patterns, try new responses, and build clearer communication. Clients can expect a direct, compassionate style that aims to identify unhelpful habits and replace them with manageable steps. Margarita also offers bilingual support for Spanish speakers and works with people around LGBTQ+ matters, career and coaching questions, and compassion fatigue.

How her approaches fit with online therapy

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how people connect with important others and uses conversations to spot patterns in relationships and closeness. It can help with relationship conflicts, attachment issues, and building more secure ways of relating. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at thoughts and everyday habits that keep problems going and helps people try small behavior and thinking changes to feel better. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) centers on feelings in close relationships and helps people name emotions and shift interaction patterns to improve bonds.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to pick methods that fit their goals, needs, and comfort level. That process may involve trying a few techniques and adjusting based on what helps most.

The biography does not specify which session formats are offered, so confirm the available session types before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life - sessions can be scheduled around work, reduce travel time, and allow for consistent check-ins. Some formats also let people use audio-only conversations when less bandwidth is needed or shorter check-ins when time is limited. Licensed professionals can adapt these clinical approaches to the online setting to focus on daily habits, relationship patterns, and practical steps for change.