Depending on how I want to use them, generally letting them thaw in a covered bowl on a room temperature counter for a half-hour or so is enough. For strawberry shortcake or a topping for vanilla ice cream I’ll generally slice/mash the berries when still half-frozen and sprinkle with granulated sugar as they complete the thawing process. (This is, I think, the single thing that I’ve used granulated sugar for in the past ten years or so, which makes me not a bit guilty to be liberal in the application.)
The sugar adds some sweetness – obviously – but it also tends to draw out the berries’ juice into a sweet, delicious strawberry syrup.