About Barbara
Barbara Ackeret-Smith is a Licensed Certified Social Worker with 35 years of experience. She helps people who struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship tensions, trauma, and abuse. Her style is warm and easy-going, and she uses empathy, listening, and a bit of humor to make conversations feel more natural.
Barbara draws mainly on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered therapy. She adapts her approach to match each person’s situation and what feels most helpful.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on practical steps, clearer thinking patterns, and building everyday coping skills. Her background includes long experience with depressive and anxiety disorders and with post-traumatic stress. She has also helped people adjust to physical disability, manage chronic pain, and cope with aging and caregiving demands.
Work with hospice patients and their loved ones has informed her approach to loss and end-of-life concerns. Barbara has supported people facing more severe mental health challenges and personality disorder symptoms, using flexible strategies tailored to each case. She listens first, then helps set small, manageable goals that fit real life.
This makes progress easier to notice and build on. People who come to her can expect straightforward, compassionate care that focuses on what they need now. She invites each person to share their story and works with them to find workable solutions.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Barbara primarily uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered methods. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people spot unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that fuel anxiety or low mood; it often includes practical exercises and small behavior changes. Client-centered work focuses on listening, empathy, and helping people find their own solutions at their own pace; it is useful when someone needs understanding and space to process feelings.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Barbara will listen to the person’s goals and preferences, try approaches that fit, and adjust over time. Together they decide which techniques feel most useful for the issues at hand and the person’s daily life.
Online therapy offers several practical benefits. Video calls let a therapist and client use visual cues for a fuller conversation. Phone sessions work well when internet bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging allow shorter check-ins, written reflection, and flexible contact during the week. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to keep continuity of care when in-person visits are difficult.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- Arkansas
- Languages
- English