Joseph Dobbins

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years of experience working with adolescents, adults, and families. A significant focus of my practice is supporting boys, young men, and parents.

My work is grounded in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and CBT, with a practical, goal-oriented style that tends to resonate well with clients who are skeptical of therapy or unsure where to start. I also teach graduate social work at Fordham University, keeping my practice connected to current research and evidence-based frameworks.

My practice is grounded in Solution-Focused and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches, with a strong emphasis on helping people develop practical strategies to navigate emotional and behavioral challenges in their everyday lives.

My clients are people who need an ally navigating emotional & behavioral challenges that feel difficult to manage on their own whether it be struggling with ADHD, anxiety, depression, family conflict, behavioral concerns, or simply feeling stuck in patterns that are not working. Many folks I work with are looking for practical strategies & genuine support, someone to talk to, yet also a collaborative partner who helps them build real skills & move toward the life they want. My aim is to follow my client's lead as the expert in their life to identify their strengths, clarify their goals, then take concrete steps forward.

I welcome individuals and families of all backgrounds and am committed to creating a space that feels safe and is goal-oriented.

The way I use Solution-Focused Brief Therapy means we spend time building on what is already working. From our first session I will ask questions designed to help you identify your own strengths, past successes, and the small signs that things are already moving in the right direction.

This looks like us setting goals at the start of treatment, noticing when things went right and what made that possible, and scaling progress in concrete terms you can actually feel. Between sessions you will leave with something specific to notice, try, or build on. For boys and young men especially, this feels similar to those little quests in a game that build up and strengthen you for your journey since it is action-oriented and you get to be in the driver's seat of your own progress rather than positioning me as the expert on their life.

With my use of the CBT, we build a toolkit where we identify the thought patterns, emotional triggers, and behavioral cycles that are keeping you stuck, then work at interrupting and replacing them with strategies that actually fit your life.

In session, this looks like identifying cognitive distortions that fuel anxiety or conflict, building structured coping strategies for emotional dysregulation, and developing between-session assignments that reinforce progress outside the therapy room. For those navigating ADHD, this is particularly valuable since this method helps create external systems and routines that compensate for executive functioning challenges rather than relying on willpower alone. Sessions are structured and goal-driven, so you always know where we are headed and how we are measuring progress, and through that, we know how we are actively shifting it.

Your first session is a chance for us to get to know each other and for me to understand what brought you here. You can expect a relaxed, judgment-free conversation to go at your own pace that you are comfortable with. Together we will begin to explore what has been going on and where you have been, where you are now and what you have already tried, and what you are hoping to move toward. By the end of the session my goal is for you to leave with a clearer sense of direction, feeling heard, and with at least one concrete idea of where we go from here.

Above all else, I want you to feel that you are not alone in your journey and I will be your ally as far as you will have me go with you. You are not alone, taking the first step toward support takes courage and I want you to know that you do not have to figure this out on your own. Whether you are navigating an ongoing difficulty or working through something you have been carrying, I am here to join your team if we are a good fit and welcome the opportunity to be your ally.