Lori Crawford Ricker, LISW

Lori Crawford Ricker, LISW, is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in Ohio who provides compassionate, personalized psychotherapy for individuals navigating anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, life transitions, and emotional challenges that can sometimes be difficult to put into words. She believes no one should have to carry life’s hardest experiences alone.

Lori brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to her work. Having experienced anxiety and depression throughout much of her own life, she understands how isolating and overwhelming these struggles can feel. Her personal experiences helped inspire her path into the mental health field and continue to shape the empathy, authenticity, and respect she brings to her relationships with clients.

A Collaborative and Personalized Approach to Therapy

Lori believes therapy should be built around the individual—not a predetermined formula. Her approach is collaborative, flexible, and focused on each client’s unique goals, strengths, experiences, and pace. Rather than expecting clients to fit into a particular therapeutic model, Lori draws from several evidence-based approaches to create treatment that meets clients where they are.

Her clinical approach includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), mindfulness-based techniques, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing.

Through CBT, Lori helps clients recognize patterns of thinking and behavior that may be contributing to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or feeling stuck. She works collaboratively with clients to challenge these patterns and develop healthier, more effective ways of responding to difficult thoughts, emotions, and situations.

For individuals who have experienced trauma or distressing life events, Lori incorporates EMDR therapy to help address experiences that may continue to affect emotional well-being, relationships, or daily life. Her trauma-informed approach prioritizes safety, trust, and allowing clients to move through the therapeutic process at a pace that feels manageable.

Mindfulness techniques may also be incorporated to help clients become more aware of their emotions, reconnect with the present moment, and develop greater steadiness when life feels overwhelming. Solution-Focused Therapy and Motivational Interviewing help Lori guide clients to recognize their strengths, identify meaningful goals, and take realistic steps toward change.

Most importantly, Lori wants therapy to extend beyond the counseling room. She focuses on helping clients develop practical coping skills and strategies they can use in everyday life, alongside the deeper insight and emotional processing that can happen during therapy.

What to Expect in Your First Session

Lori understands that beginning therapy can feel intimidating, especially for someone who has never attended counseling before or has struggled to talk openly about what they are experiencing. She intentionally creates a warm, easygoing, low-pressure environment where clients don’t need to arrive knowing exactly what to say.

The first session is primarily about getting to know one another. Lori takes time to understand what brought the client to therapy, what has been weighing on them, what may have been difficult to talk about, and what they hope will be different in their life.

There is no expectation to share everything immediately or to have clearly defined goals from the beginning. Lori believes trust develops over time, and she allows clients the space to tell their stories at their own pace.

Her relaxed and approachable style often helps clients discover that opening up feels more natural than they expected. The goal is for clients to leave their first session feeling heard, understood, and hopeful about what comes next.

Therapy for Anxiety, Depression, Grief, and Trauma

Whether someone is experiencing persistent anxiety, struggling with depression, grieving a loss, processing trauma, adjusting to a major life change, or simply feeling that something in life isn’t quite right, Lori offers a supportive space to begin making sense of it.

She believes therapy is not about having all the answers. It is about having a safe place to explore difficult experiences, understand yourself more deeply, develop new skills, and begin moving toward the life you want.

For those ready to begin—or even those simply wondering whether therapy might help—Lori welcomes the opportunity to connect and take that first step together.