About Cali Werner, LCSW
My clinical interests and areas of expertise include OCD, athletes’ repetitive and ritualistic performance-inhibiting behaviors, confidence, and anxiety surrounding performance in sports.
I received my bachelor’s degree from Rice University where I competed as a Division I collegiate distance runner winning nine conference titles, and an Honorable Mention All-American in the 10k. My most recent athletic success was competing in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon.
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While at Rice, I was obtaining my degree in Sport Management when I was diagnosed with OCD, although I had struggled with it from the young age of four. Treatment changed my life in many ways. My love for my sport reignited as OCD tendencies dissipated. All this to say, my personal experience pushed my career transition into mental health.
I received my master’s degree in social work with a specialization in OCD from Baylor University, and am currently working on my Ph.D. in clinical social work at Baylor while continuing to see patients virtually.
My current research on OCD and perfectionism in athletics coincides with my love for running. I am dedicated to raising awareness and speaking on behalf of those with mental illness by educating and providing resources and hope.
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Life is too short to let stress and routine take the passion out of something you were once passionate about. Don't let it steal your spark. Evidence-based treatment works.
My Approach
When working with every client, the first steps in treatment include developing a sense of rapport, transparency, and trust in order to create a working alliance. After an initial assessment and better understanding of each client's goals and needs, it is important for clients to have a basic understanding of the evidence-based treatment that we will be incorporating.
I strongly believe that in order for a client to improve, they have to understand what life can look like without the weights of distress and anxiety taking the driver's seat. A sense of hope is necessary in order for one to stay motivated for treatment. Therefore, we will work on building that motivation by engaging in the initial steps of CBT. Once a client sees the benefit from that first step, then the momentum really gets going.
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I know, firsthand, that treatment requires courage, hard work, and discipline. However, I also know that with the appropriate level of evidence-based care, one can get back in the driver's seat of their life, whether it be falling in love with their sport again, overcoming symptoms of previously debilitating OCD, or finding the light that shines within that others from the outside so readily see.
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Through professional and personal experiences, I am dedicated to helping others obtain that life-changing sense of hope, freedom, resilience and confidence that evidence-based care provides.
