Leslie Cates, LPC

Leslie Cates is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Louisiana with 10 years of experience. She works with adults dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, addictions, relationship difficulties, and patterns such as codependency. Leslie also supports people coping with trauma, sleep problems, anger, career changes, ADHD, and compassion fatigue.

Leslie earned a Master of Arts in Counseling in 2016 in New Orleans. Her approach centers on the person in front of her - clients set goals and she helps design the path to reach them. Sessions focus on practical steps and clearer thinking rather than labels. She uses a client-centered frame and leans on evidence-based methods to guide the work.

Therapy often begins with identifying patterns that keep someone stuck, like people-pleasing or avoiding conflict. Leslie works with thoughts and behaviors to make them more realistic and manageable. She also brings in acceptance skills to help people tolerate difficult feelings while making values-based changes.

For people with trauma or intense emotions, Leslie uses techniques from Dialectical Behavior Therapy and trauma-focused approaches to process past events and build emotion regulation skills. She combines those tools with cognitive strategies to reduce unhelpful thinking and support healthier choices.

Sessions are practical and interactive. Leslie aims to help clients notice small changes that add up. If someone wants to explore boundaries, reduce substance use, or manage mood swings, she helps them break the work into clear, achievable steps.

Therapeutic approaches and working online