Dr. Vaughn DeCoster, LCSW

Dr. Vaughn DeCoster is a licensed doctoral-level social worker and LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) with 31 years of clinical experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, trauma and intimacy-related concerns. He combines decades of clinical practice with experience as a university professor to offer practical, evidence-informed tools that address emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

He approaches therapy as a collaborative, creative process in which the client is recognized as the expert on their own life. Sessions are adapted to each person’s unique circumstances, needs, and abilities, and he draws from a range of approaches - including attachment-focused work, client-centered methods, cognitive strategies, emotionally-focused interventions, and mindfulness practices - to tailor support. At times he integrates experiential activities, including exercises that involve photography, to open new ways of exploring experience.

Dr. DeCoster emphasizes engaged, compassionate support aimed at strengthening resilience, improving coping, and helping clients find practical paths forward. He works with a wide range of presenting concerns such as grief, compassion fatigue, LGBT issues, caregiver stress, parenting and fatherhood challenges, career matters, ADHD, and life transitions, always adapting interventions to fit the individual.