- Years in practice
- 20
- Credentials
- LPC
- Licensed in
- Virginia
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
- Focus
- Grief
- Focus
- Bipolar disorder
About Lisa
Lisa Tomala is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 20 years of experience helping people manage anxiety, depression, grief, parenting concerns, trauma, and stress. She writes plainly and listens closely to understand what feels most urgent. Lisa focuses on clear practical steps so daily life feels more manageable for people under strain.
She draws on an eclectic mix of approaches to match each person’s needs. Sessions often include exploring early life patterns that shape current behavior.
Background and approach
Lisa also uses cognitive-behavioral strategies to change unhelpful thinking and solution-focused techniques to set small, doable goals. Lisa has professional experience supporting service members with PTSD and both teens and adults facing substance use, trauma, and major life transitions. That background informs a steady, experienced way of working with complex concerns.
She also speaks from personal experience with grief, and she can include religious perspectives such as Thomistic philosophy when a person wants that integrated. In sessions she moves at each person’s pace and focuses on present symptoms alongside longer-term patterns. The aim is practical change that helps people shift from coping to feeling more authentic and resilient.
Lisa encourages open conversation about thoughts and feelings without judgment. Outside of work she spends time with family, an Australian Cattle Dog, painting, and hiking. Her practice is based in Virginia and sessions are offered in English.
What Lisa works with
Everything Lisa lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Lisa helps people with.
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Compassion fatigue
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Intimacy-related issues
- Sleeping disorders
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches that guide online work and practical benefits
She commonly combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with psychodynamic ideas. Cognitive-behavioral work focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing small behavioral changes to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, or ease depressive symptoms. Psychodynamic work looks at early relationship patterns and how they shape current reactions, helping people notice repeated themes and make different choices.She also uses motivational interviewing and solution-focused methods to set clear, manageable goals. Motivational interviewing helps when someone feels stuck or ambivalent about change, while solution-focused work concentrates on next steps that can be tried between sessions. Together these approaches offer both insight and concrete actions in an online setting.
Finding the right mix is a team effort. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which approaches fit their goals, pace, and preferences. That conversation may shift as progress is made so the plan stays useful and realistic.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for deeper conversation and nonverbal cues, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, live chat is suited to quick check-ins, and messaging helps people reflect over time. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to continue consistent work across changes in schedule or location.
Questions people ask about Lisa
What kinds of concerns does she address?
She helps people with anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, grief, bipolar challenges, parenting issues, stress, addictions, and related concerns listed in her specialties.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
She uses an eclectic, down-to-earth approach that blends exploring early patterns with practical steps. Work often mixes cognitive-behavioral techniques, psychodynamic ideas, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused strategies.
What is her professional background?
She has 20 years of experience and has worked with active-duty service members, teens, and adults facing PTSD, substance use, trauma, and major life transitions.
What are her credentials and where is she located?
She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) licensed in Virginia. Her practice location is listed as Virginia.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
Sessions can be done by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and preferences.
How does payment and cost work?
Cost varies by location and therapist availability and sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
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