About Valerie
Valerie Kennedy Lang is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people manage stress and anxiety. She supports people facing grief, low self-esteem, and life changes. She also addresses compassion fatigue and concerns related to trauma, depression, and ADHD.
Valerie works with those dealing with relationship and family problems and with people navigating chronic illness or caregiver stress. Valerie draws on 14 years of clinical experience in health care settings, nonprofit work, and independent practice in Missouri.
Background and approach
She values listening first and building a collaborative relationship. Sessions focus on practical steps toward goals that clients define for themselves. Her approach combines client-centered values with cognitive behavioral and mindfulness techniques.
That means she helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, practice new coping skills, and bring attention to the present moment. She also uses elements of dialectical behavior therapy and emotionally-focused therapy when they match a client's needs. In sessions Valerie aims for clear goals and small, achievable changes.
She encourages skill practice between meetings and checks in on progress. Conversations are straightforward and focused on what will be most useful day to day. People often seek her help for burnout, grief after loss, fertility and caregiver stress, body image and attachment concerns, and hardship from chronic pain or illness.
Valerie accepts English-speaking clients in Missouri and works with international clients when appropriate.
How Valerie’s approaches work in online therapy
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and building a trusting relationship. The therapist follows the person’s lead and helps them clarify goals and strengths, which can be useful for anxiety, grief, and self-esteem concerns.Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, helps people spot and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. It is practical and skill-based, useful for managing anxiety, depression, and stress through techniques you can practice between sessions.
Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, teaches skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and improving relationships. These tools can help when feelings are intense or when someone struggles with repeated crises.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Valerie will discuss goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before to decide together which methods to use. That plan can change as needs evolve so treatment stays relevant.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is good for face-to-face conversation, phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited, chat or text work well for shorter check-ins or when typing feels more comfortable. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives and to maintain regular contact between meetings.
Questions people ask
What kinds of problems does Valerie help with?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What are her credentials and where is she based?
Does she offer sessions in other languages or internationally?
What session formats are available?
How are sessions paid for and what do they cost?
How do I begin working with her?
What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Midlife crisis
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 14 years
- Licensed
- Missouri
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.