About Willow
Willow Wakeley-Smith is a licensed clinical social worker who focuses on easing stress and anxiety. She also helps people facing depression, ADHD, parenting challenges, and motivation struggles. Her approach is practical and respectful, aimed at creating small, usable changes that matter in daily life.
Willow draws on five years of clinical work with adults and over a decade of broader professional experience in education settings. That background gives her a clear view of common parenting strains and how they affect families.
Background and approach
She uses that experience to tailor plans that fit each person’s situation and goals. In sessions she uses straightforward tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness to reduce overwhelming thoughts and build coping skills. She also brings client-centered listening and motivational interviewing to help clarify what matters to each person.
These methods are used together to make sense of problems and test practical strategies. Willow pays attention to progress in real life, not just talk in the room. She checks in about what’s working and adjusts plans when needed.
This keeps the focus on useful outcomes like better sleep, steadier mood, or clearer routines. People meet with Willow by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging. She practices in Missouri and conducts sessions in English.
If the issues listed feel familiar, she invites a brief match process to see if they are a good fit.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Willow uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice unhelpful thinking patterns and try different behaviors. CBT is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and repetitive worries because it focuses on small, testable changes.She also draws on client-centered therapy, which means sessions begin with listening and understanding each person's priorities. That approach pairs well with mindfulness techniques to teach grounding and moment-to-moment awareness for stress and emotional ups and downs.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Willow will work with clients to identify goals, try methods that fit their preferences, and adjust plans based on what proves helpful. The aim is to find tools that feel doable and make a difference in everyday life.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls are good for face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in fits a break at work. Live chat and text-based messaging let clients share thoughts between sessions or use a written check-in when typing feels more comfortable.
Questions people ask
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Which languages are supported and are international clients accepted?
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Parenting issues
- Bipolar disorder
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Antisocial personality
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Personality disorders
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- Missouri
- Languages
- English
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