About Cathryn
Cathryn Kirtley is a California licensed marriage and family therapist with five years of professional experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress or anxiety. She also supports people dealing with family and parenting concerns, and those trying to rebuild self-esteem during life changes.
Cathryn focuses on making sessions straightforward and easy to follow. She creates a calm space where people can say what they think and feel without judgment.
Background and approach
Sessions pay attention to practical steps you can try between meetings, so work in daily life can change over time. Her areas of focus include attachment and communication problems, money and workplace stress, pregnancy and childbirth, and social anxiety or phobia. She also works with people facing low self-love or motivation and helps them find small, manageable changes.
Cathryn frames therapy as a partnership. She listens first, then helps you pick approaches that match your goals. Progress is paced to what feels doable, and she offers options like talking on the phone or messaging between sessions when helpful.
If you are nervous about starting, she recognizes that taking the first step takes courage. She guides people through a short intake and matching process and helps them schedule sessions that fit day-to-day life.
Approaches for anxiety and life changes online
Cathryn uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on clear skills and real-life changes. One common approach she uses teaches practical coping skills for anxiety and stress, such as breath work, grounding, and simple behavioral experiments to test unhelpful beliefs. These techniques help reduce worry and improve day-to-day functioning.Another approach concentrates on relationship and communication patterns, looking at attachment and how people relate to others. This work helps people recognize recurring interaction styles, set clearer boundaries, and repair connection with partners or family members when possible.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Cathryn listens to your current concerns, goals, and preferences and then suggests methods that are likely to fit. She checks in regularly and adjusts the plan as you try strategies and report what helps or what doesn't.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different needs. Video sessions are useful when visual cues matter, phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited, and messaging or live chat can work for brief check-ins or flexible scheduling. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to keep momentum between sessions.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Parenting issues
Also listed
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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