About Dorothy
Dorothy Russell helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addiction challenges, trauma, and major life changes. She is a licensed social worker - LISW and LCSW - practicing in Ohio and offers a calm, nonjudgmental space to talk through hard things. Her approach aims to make the first steps toward change feel clearer and more doable.
Dorothy keeps sessions straightforward and focused on what matters to each person. She listens first, and then outlines small, practical steps to try between meetings.
Background and approach
Techniques come from cognitive and acceptance-based approaches alongside solution-focused strategies and motivational interviewing. She pays attention to family of origin concerns, adoption and foster care issues, abandonment and blended family stress. She also supports people coping with caregiver strain, postpartum depression, cultural or multicultural concerns, and feelings of isolation or emptiness.
Practical communication problems and impulsivity are addressed with goal-oriented work. Therapy with Dorothy centers on collaboration. Goals are set together and progress is reviewed regularly.
Some sessions focus on changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors while others build values-driven action and clearer decision-making. With seven years of practice she brings steady support and experience to each meeting. Sessions are offered in English and arranged in formats that suit daily life, including video calls, phone, live chat, and text messaging.
To begin, a short matching questionnaire connects people to a schedule that fits their needs.
How tailored approaches work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters to them and take small steps toward those values even when difficult thoughts or feelings are present. It is often useful for anxiety, stress, and finding direction after life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and testing new behaviors; this approach is practical for depression, anxiety, and impulsivity. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a supportive, nonjudgmental relationship where the therapist follows the person's lead to build trust and self-understanding.Deciding which approach to use is a joint process. The therapist will talk through your goals and preferences, try different techniques, and adjust the plan based on what helps most. This collaborative method aims to match tools to the problems you bring and the way you prefer to work.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet. Video calls allow visual connection for deeper conversation, phone sessions work when bandwidth or screen time is limited, and live chat or text-based messaging make shorter check-ins or ongoing support possible. These options let people fit sessions into work breaks, caregiving schedules, or times when traveling would be difficult. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises and homework to each format so progress continues between meetings.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Multicultural concerns
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- Maryland, Delaware, Ohio
- Languages
- English