Liza Prochnow, LCSW

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of anxiety does Liza work with?

Liza works with adults whose anxiety shows up as perfectionism, people-pleasing, overachievement, and chronic overthinking  the kind of anxiety that is easy to hide because it often looks like competence from the outside. She also works with more visible forms: panic, health anxiety, social anxiety, and the persistent worry that accompanies major life change. Rather than only managing symptoms, Liza helps clients trace anxiety back to its sources, including attachment wounds and early life experiences, so the relief lasts beyond the current stressor.

How is therapy for OCD different from therapy for general anxiety?

OCD involves a specific cycle: an intrusive thought creates distress, and a compulsion  checking, reassurance-seeking, mental reviewing, or avoidance  temporarily relieves it, which strengthens the cycle. Effective OCD treatment focuses on interrupting that loop rather than answering the thought. Liza helps clients recognize the function their compulsions serve, build tolerance for uncertainty, and reduce the reassurance-seeking that keeps the cycle running. This work is collaborative and paced, and clients are never pushed faster than they are ready to go.

What does it mean that Liza works with military spouses?

Liza is a military spouse herself. That means military-connected clients do not have to explain the context first  frequent moves, deployments, parenting without a village, living far from family, the strain a service member's career places on a household, or the barriers to building your own career alongside it. She also understands the complicated relationship many military families have with mental health care, including concerns about how treatment is perceived for both service members and spouses. That shared understanding lets the work start faster and go deeper.

What ages does Liza work with?

Liza's primary focus is adults and young adults, roughly ages 19 to 45. Within that range she works especially well with college students navigating independence and academic pressure, young professionals, new and established parents, and adults reexamining their relationships with their own parents. Her broader background includes more than ten years working with a wide span of ages and family configurations, which informs how she understands the family systems her adult clients come from.

What is Liza's style in session?

Relaxed, collaborative, and human. Liza will not sit silently and nod. She engages directly, asks real questions, challenges gently when something needs challenging, and uses humor when humor helps. Clients frequently say they feel comfortable, seen, and understood in ways they had not managed to reach in previous therapy relationships. If you have tried therapy before and found it too formal or too passive, her approach tends to feel different.

What should I expect in the first session?

The first session is about understanding your story and what brought you in now. Liza will ask about your current challenges, your history, the patterns you have noticed, and what you want to be different. You will not be asked to relive anything you are not ready to talk about. By the end of the session you should have a clearer sense of what is driving the difficulty and what the work together could look like. It is also your chance to decide whether the fit feels right  that matters more than most people realize.