Kathleen Cooley

Kathleen Cooley is a Licensed Master Social Worker with 40 years of experience who helps people manage stress, anger, anxiety, grief, and relationship struggles. She acknowledges how hard it can feel to reach out and focuses on creating a calm, listening space where people can talk through what’s happening in their lives. Kathleen encourages people to name their concerns and take small steps toward change.

She draws on a mix of approaches and leans on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques to address thinking and behavior patterns. Kathleen also uses client-centered ideas to follow each person’s pace and priorities. Her background includes work with children in schools, college-age adolescents, and adults facing both serious mental illness and adjustment difficulties.

Kathleen has experience supporting people after trauma, including sexual and other abuse, and with issues such as suicidality, selective mutism, and grief. She has worked with mood disorders, bipolar conditions, ADHD, and the strains that come with caregiving and aging.

In sessions she keeps things practical and straightforward, offering tools to manage impulses, grief, or overwhelming emotions. She respects each person’s story and avoids minimizing real struggles. Progress is approached in small, concrete steps that fit the client’s life.

Kathleen prefers video or Zoom so she can see and connect with people face to face, though she is also open to phone and text when needed. She plans to provide part-time services now that she is retired from full-time social work.

Therapeutic approaches and working online

Kathleen commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered approaches in her work. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and changing behaviors to reduce symptoms like anxiety, anger, or low mood. Client-centered work emphasizes listening closely, following the client's lead, and building trust so people feel heard and understood.

She also brings attachment-based ideas into sessions when relationships and connection are central concerns. Attachment-focused discussion helps people recognize patterns in close relationships and try different ways of relating that feel safer and more effective.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Kathleen will talk with each person about their goals, preferred style, and what feels most useful. Together they decide which techniques to try and adjust the plan as needed.

Kathleen prefers video or Zoom so she can see clients and read nonverbal cues, and she is open to phone or text when appropriate. Confirm the available session formats before booking to make sure they fit your schedule. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy day, allow shorter check-ins when needed, or avoid travel time while keeping face-to-face connection through video.