- Empathic listener
- Practical tools
- Longtime experience
About Mali
Mali Austriyak Mikhli is a licensed clinical social worker with over 40 years of practice in New York. She chose social work after seeing how an empathic therapist can change someone's life. Her approach is warm and interactive, and she aims to offer respectful, sensitive, and compassionate care.
She uses supportive and psychotherapeutic interventions to help people navigate hard times. Mali draws on cognitive-behavioral ideas alongside client-centered and narrative elements to help people untangle thoughts and feelings. Sessions are meant to be collaborative and focused on practical steps that feel doable.
Mali has worked across many life stages and cultural backgrounds. She has particular experience with grief, early childhood disruption and trauma, and PTSD. She also helps people facing stress, anxiety, relationship struggles, parenting challenges, and issues around self-esteem and life transitions.
Her style emphasizes listening first, then offering tools and perspectives that fit the person in front of her. She aims to create space for honest conversation about abandonment, attachment, codependency, and family of origin issues when those topics arise.
If someone is ready to take a step toward change, Mali focuses on supporting and empowering them to make practical shifts. The work often combines talking through past patterns with small, concrete practices to try between sessions.
How Mali’s approaches translate to online work
Client-Centered Therapy centers on the person in the room and on building a trusting relationship. It focuses on listening and responding to what matters most to the client, which can help with stress, grief, and self-esteem concerns. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts affect feelings and behavior. It uses practical exercises and small experiments to change unhelpful patterns, useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps people identify and name their emotions and see how those feelings shape interactions and goals, which can be useful for intimacy-related struggles and attachment issues.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Mali will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals and preferences. She listens to what is going on, suggests approaches to try, and adjusts as the work unfolds so the plan fits the client’s needs.
The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm current online options before booking. In general, online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy day, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. They also allow ongoing work with a licensed professional from different locations, which can help people maintain momentum during life transitions.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
40+ years
Credentials
New York
Languages
English, Spanish, Yiddish
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Mali commonly address?
Mali helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and abuse, and PTSD. She also works with relationship struggles, parenting challenges, intimacy-related issues, and codependency when relevant.
What is her therapy style like?
Her style is warm and interactive. Sessions focus on listening first, then offering practical steps and coping strategies.
How much experience does she have?
She has 40 years of experience as a social worker and has worked with many life stages and cultural backgrounds.
What credentials and location are listed?
She holds the LCSW-R credential and practices in New York.
Which languages are supported in sessions?
Sessions are offered in English, Spanish, and Yiddish. International clients are accepted.
What session formats are available?
The original biography does not specify session formats. Please confirm current session options before booking.
How does cost and payment work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.
Profile details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. Credential and registration rules differ between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.