About Derrell
Derrell Tidwell is a licensed clinical social worker with more than four decades of practice. He brings a calm, practical manner to sessions and focuses on everyday challenges like stress and anxiety. He uses straightforward language and lets clients lead the story about their lives.
He emphasizes that people carry strengths they can use to face hard moments. Sessions aim to clarify what matters most and find steps that fit each person's life.
Background and approach
That might mean practicing new ways to cope with panic attacks or working through grief and loss. Derrell draws on several therapeutic styles to match what a person needs. He blends Client-Centered listening with tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trauma-Focused approaches when appropriate.
He also uses psychodynamic ideas and Solution-Focused techniques to help people notice patterns and try practical changes. Over 42 years of work, he has helped people concerned about relationships, family conflict, identity and multicultural issues, and life transitions. He also addresses problems like codependency, communication troubles, caregiver stress, and eating concerns.
Derrell holds LCSW and LICSW credentials and practices in Washington. Sessions are offered in English, and he supports people coping with change, low self-esteem, guilt, and the fallout from trauma. He encourages a collaborative pace and meets people where they are ready to begin.
Approach and online care that fit your life
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and building on what a person already knows about their life; the therapist offers support and reflection so the client can make choices that feel right. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts and behaviors interact and uses practical exercises to reduce anxiety, panic, or unhelpful patterns. Trauma-Focused Therapy addresses the effects of past hurts by helping people process difficult memories and learn coping skills to manage triggers and strong emotions.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will review your concerns, goals, and preferences and suggest ways of working together. If a method doesn’t feel like the right fit, adjustments are made so the work meets your needs.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect: video calls for face-to-face conversation, phone sessions when bandwidth or camera use is a concern, live chat for shorter check-ins, and text-based messaging for ongoing notes and support between sessions. These options help fit therapy into busy schedules and different life situations, while still allowing therapists to use CBT exercises, trauma processing, and client-centered dialogue effectively.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 42 years
- Licensed
- California, Washington
- Languages
- English
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