About Sarah
Sarah Axley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who helps people manage anxiety, stress, grief, and life changes. She draws on 15 years of clinical experience to support people through difficult moments and practical problems. Her approach is straightforward and focused on small, doable steps.
She speaks English and works with clients located in Virginia and beyond. Sarah combines talking, skills practice, and short between-session tasks to build progress. She often uses cognitive behavioral techniques to notice and change unhelpful thinking.
Background and approach
She pairs this with mindfulness practices to reduce overwhelm and increase present-moment awareness. Motivational interviewing and client-centered work guide how she meets each person. Sessions start where the client is and focus on goals the client cares about.
Sarah often helps with sleep problems, addiction concerns, relationship and communication struggles, and managing mood symptoms like depression or bipolar swings. Her background includes a Master of Social Work and a post-baccalaureate certificate in aging studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in outpatient clinics, intensive community settings, and hospitals since 2009, and earned the LCSW in 2012.
In therapy, she emphasizes strengths and practical tools. Expect a collaborative process that mixes understanding your story with skill-building. Short homework tasks are common because that is where change often happens between sessions.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and following the client's priorities. It emphasizes empathy and collaboration so the client sets goals and the therapist supports progress. This approach helps when someone needs a space to make sense of difficult feelings and decide what matters most.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and teaches concrete skills to change them. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and managing mood shifts, and it works well in short exercises and homework between sessions.
Mindfulness Therapy adds simple attention and breathing practices to help calm the body and reduce reactivity. These practices can be short and easy to fit into daily life to lower stress and improve focus.
Choosing the right mix is part of the work. The therapist will ask about your needs, goals, and preferences, and then suggest approaches to try. That choice is collaborative and can change over time as progress is made.
Online formats offer practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and screen-sharing for worksheets. Phone sessions can fit into a work break or reduce bandwidth needs. Live chat and text-based messaging make brief check-ins and between-session coaching easier. These options help people keep therapy consistent around busy schedules and different life demands.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Virginia
- Languages
- English
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