About Kathy
Kathy Rubendall is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 30 years of experience helping people manage anxiety, stress, depression, grief, and addictions. She offers a steady, warm presence and practical guidance for everyday struggles. Kathy speaks plain language and focuses on clear steps people can use right away.
She builds sessions around mutual respect and acceptance. Kathy uses a client-centered style and draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to help change unhelpful thoughts and habits.
Background and approach
She also uses dialectical behavior skills and solution-focused strategies to teach coping skills and to set achievable goals. Her experience includes support for mood disorders such as bipolar disorder, trauma and abuse, and issues tied to adoption and attachment. She has worked with people facing career transition, sleep and eating concerns, caregiving stress, chronic illness, and body image problems.
Kathy also helps clients dealing with relationship communication and family of origin issues. Sessions emphasize practical tools - behavior changes, skill practice, and short-term goal setting. Kathy often blends problem-solving with motivational interviewing to help people find the drive to make changes.
Conversations are collaborative and paced to each person’s needs. People who choose Kathy can expect a straightforward, compassionate approach. She invites clients to focus on small, manageable steps that add up over time.
Kathy works from North Carolina and conducts sessions in English.
Approaches that translate well to online therapy
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and helping people find their own solutions; it helps when someone needs support to sort feelings and decide on next steps. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches concrete skills to reduce anxiety and change unhelpful patterns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, adds skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication when strong emotions get in the way.Choosing the best approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss your concerns, try a few techniques, and adjust based on what feels most helpful. Together you will set short-term goals and check progress so the plan can change as needs change.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different days and rhythms. Video lets you see facial cues and practice skills in real time. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in fits your schedule. Live chat and messaging let you share updates between sessions or use brief written check-ins. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving routines, or other commitments while keeping focus on practical skills and progress.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Paranoia
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- North Carolina
- Languages
- English
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