Malia Holbeck , LCSW, CSW-PIP

Malia Holbeck is a licensed clinical social worker based in South Dakota with 18 years of professional experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, addictions, career challenges, and major life transitions. She combines practical skills with a strengths-based outlook, working from the belief that each person is the expert of their own story and already carries resources that can support change.

Malia holds LCSW, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and also holds a CSW-PIP credential, an additional clinical social work qualification. Her work often centers on compassionately supporting clients through depression, coping with life changes, compassion fatigue, and issues related to chronic pain, illness, or disability. She also addresses substance use concerns, smoking and vaping cessation, workplace difficulties, seasonal affective disorder, money and financial stress, and cultivating greater self-love.

Malia aims to make the first steps into therapy feel manageable and empowering. She honors the courage it takes to begin and emphasizes collaboration, helping clients identify their priorities, build on existing strengths, and develop concrete strategies for moving forward.

Therapeutic approaches and flexible online care

Malia draws on client-centered therapy to create a respectful, nonjudgmental space where the client's perspective guides the work. This approach emphasizes empathy and collaboration and is especially helpful for people facing life transitions, compassion fatigue, or concerns about self-worth.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which focuses on identifying and shifting unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT often helps with anxiety, depression, stress management, and practical coping strategies for day-to-day challenges.

Motivational Interviewing is another tool in her practice, designed to strengthen a person’s own motivation to change. This approach can be useful for addictions, smoking or vaping cessation, and other behavior changes where ambivalence may be present.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Malia collaborates with clients to determine what fits best based on their needs, goals, and preferences. She works alongside each person to adapt methods and develop a plan that feels achievable.

Online therapy options - including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging - make it easier to access consistent support while accommodating work schedules, mobility limitations, or geographic constraints. These formats allow licensed professionals like Malia to maintain continuity of care and offer flexible ways to engage in the therapeutic work.