01 · Who Louise works with

Louise works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and trauma and abuse

Louise lists 5 specialisms and 10 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Louise chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Louise's own words

What Louise says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

I have been a practicing Social Worker for the last 40 years. I have worked in both private practice and Community Mental Health. I recognize that by the time someone seeks counseling they have tried other alternatives and are truly looking for answers, help, and/or direction that they have not been able to get. Therapy/counseling is an important decision and the work should be a positive experience (although it is work) that helps us get to a higher level in our lives. I have worked with CISM debriefing for first responders, been trained in hypnotherapy, Accelerated Resolution of Trauma, Solution Focused and both short and longer term modalities. I am available to offer my experience and training, to work together to help find answers, resolution and new ways of being in life.

Louise Bonanno, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Nov 2026

03 · How Louise works

The 6 approaches Louise lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Louise lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Louise's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Louise runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT

A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Louise practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Louise's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Louise at this point.

2. Naming Louise specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Louise is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Louise.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Louise

Built from what Louise actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Louise's - Louise has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 32 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

New York

Licence

NY LCSW 024083-1

Licence number

024083-1

Licence expires

30 Sep 2027

NPI

1679138770

Years in practice

32

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Louise's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Nov 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Louise. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.