James Gilligan

James Gilligan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with two decades of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, addictions, grief, and major mood concerns. He works with people facing relationship and intimacy-related issues, parenting strain, sleep and eating concerns, and the challenge of coping with life changes. He also supports those dealing with trauma, anger, self-esteem struggles, and compassion fatigue.

He trained at Florida International University and has held a Florida LCSW since 2000. Early in his career he provided individual, group, and family therapy in Miami-Dade schools. Later work included supporting people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder and major depression.

Since 2007 he has worked with active duty military, focusing on marital concerns, anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, and domestic violence issues among service members. He draws on experience with dysfunctional family systems and attachment problems that continue into adult relationships.

In sessions he uses several practical approaches such as cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavior strategies, attachment-focused work, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. He also uses client-centered methods and motivational interviewing skills to help people set goals and make changes they want to see.

People can expect a straightforward, goal-oriented style aimed at real-world change. He combines skills learned across settings to tailor steps that fit each person’s situation and goals.

How his approaches translate to online work

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current connections. It helps people notice patterns in their close relationships and try new ways of relating that feel safer and more satisfying.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviors keep problems stuck. It combines simple exercises, behavior changes, and practical tools to reduce anxiety, lift mood, and improve sleep and routines.

EMDR, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is used for trauma-related memories and intense distress. It involves guided processing of upsetting memories to reduce their emotional impact and help people move forward.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist talks with each person about their needs and goals, and together they try methods that fit those priorities. That collaborative process shapes what happens in ongoing sessions.

If you are considering online sessions, confirm the current session options before booking as formats are not specified here. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. Therapists can adapt techniques like CBT exercises, attachment-focused conversations, and some EMDR protocols for remote conversations when appropriate.