In-Person in Ellicott City, MD 21043
Online in Multiple States
Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C.
I believe therapy is truly a collaborative effort for healing. You are the expert and the therapist is a conduit. I’m committed to helping people learn how to live by their values instead of letting emotions and thoughts control their lives. My work focuses on targeting ineffective behaviors, habits, and beliefs and transforming them into effective ways of living that brings people in touch their values. In life, we will always experience a full spectrum of emotions, it's all in our reactions to those emotions in which we build a life we're excited about.
In my practice, I will never ask the person sitting across from me to do something I myself have not done. Meaning, I live my life by my therapy approaches and don't just use them as an "intervention." I also use a lot of humor, direct and transparent communication.
Personally, I love dogs (have two of my own), reading, painting and engaging in sports or exercise!
If you’re interested in scheduling a consultation with me, please send an appointment request.
Client Focus
Session Format: Group, Individual sessions.
Age Specialty: Adult, Young Adult
Treatment Approach
- Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) Helps people accept difficult thoughts and feelings instead of fighting them, while committing to actions that reflect their values. It blends mindfulness with practical behavior strategies.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Combines CBT with mindfulness to help regulate emotions, tolerate stress, and build stronger relationships. Originally designed for borderline personality disorder, it’s now used more broadly.
- Experiential Therapy Involves hands-on activities to bring emotions into the present moment. It helps clients process feelings more deeply than through conversation alone.
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Combines mindfulness practices with CBT to prevent depression relapse. It helps people notice thoughts without judgment and respond more calmly.
- Psychoeducational Therapy Provides education and coping tools about mental health conditions. It empowers clients with knowledge and practical skills.
Education & Credentials
Leslie Worley LCSW-C
- Female
- License # 0904013867
- Licensed in Virginia
- Practicing Since 2012
Education: Graduated in 2012 from Washington University in St. Louis - School of Social Work
Formal training in Contextual DBT starting in 2018 by Dr. Paul Holmes (Professor at University of Chicago & Owner of Emotion Management Program)
Finances
Fees
- Average Session Fee $200
- Affordable sliding scale therapy: apply if you may be eligible.
- I believe in making care as accessible as possible. If someone really wants to work with me but has financial barriers, we have a conversation and see what's possible. I also provide superbills to get reimbursement from insurance. I can help coach people through that process as well. People are often surprised at how much their insurance will reimburse.
- Out of Network
- Out of Network Superbill
Leslie Worley Practice Details
Therapy Sessions
- Available In-Person in Ellicott City, MD 21043
- Available Online for residents of Multiple States Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C.
- Online Therapy Details: Simple Practice
In my 12 years of clinical practice, I've been lucky enough to be formally trained in third wave therapy approaches. When I first started as a therapist, I was practicing traditional CBT, Trauma Focused, Psychodynamic, etc. After switching to the approaches below, I noticed how incredibly more effective they are than traditional therapy.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a third wave therapy approach. ACT emphasizes mindfulness, acceptance, and values in helping clients to stop avoiding, denying and struggling with their inner emotions and moves people toward accepting these emotions in order to move forward in their lives. Through this, people begin to accept (not to be confused with approval or forgiveness) their issues and live instead moving toward their commitments and values. Research has shown that ACT is an effective treatment for many psychological issues.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) - Contextually Focused*
Dialectics, at its core, is two opposing truths existing together and creating a new combined truth. An example is, "I am feel depressed and I can still do things I enjoy." DBT emphasizes the dialectic of acceptance and change in improving the quality of people’s lives. There are four modules of DBT: Mindfulness, Distress Management, Emotional Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness. There is a huge misconception that DBT does not process /address trauma - it does, it just goes about it in a different way than traditional trauma therapy.
Contextually focused DBT combines ACT and DBT for a beautiful blend of highly effective treatment. Mindfulness/raising present moment awareness are core components of both modalities. With a Contextually focused DBT therapist, clients will receive the benefit of learning skills, while also defusing from aversive thoughts, examining behaviors/reactions in context and challenging current "solutions" to the problem/issue.
*Contextually focused DBT was created by Dr. Paul Holmes
Psychology Today Profile:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/921994