About Kathleen
Kathleen Lynch Gaffney welcomes people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, grief, or major life changes. She is a licensed clinical social worker - LCSW - based in New York with 35 years of experience. She offers a steady, respectful presence for those who need someone to listen and help them think things through.
Her approach is straightforward and practical. She uses methods that help people notice what matters to them and take small, workable steps toward those values.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on clear goals, skill building, and making sense of emotional patterns that get in the way of daily life. Clients can expect a calm, reliable therapist who listens closely and keeps the work focused. Kathleen draws on acceptance-based and cognitive strategies alongside mindful awareness to reduce distress.
She also uses attachment-informed ideas to help people with relationship and intimacy concerns find safer ways to connect. She has supported people coping with trauma, grief, eating and mood challenges, anger, parenting strain, work stress, ADHD, and issues related to HIV and AIDS. Her long experience includes helping those managing bipolar symptoms and compassion fatigue from caregiving roles.
Kathleen works with adults to clarify priorities, learn coping tools, and rebuild confidence. She welcomes clear communication about goals and adjusts the pace to fit each person. Reaching out is a strong first step toward change.
How Kathleen’s approaches work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice their values and take small, meaningful steps even when feelings are hard. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and big life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on practical skills to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and it can help with stress, panic, and mood problems. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing habits that reduce reactivity and improve emotional regulation.Kathleen treats finding the right approach as a joint process. She will talk with each person about goals, try methods that fit the problem, and adjust over time. Together they decide what helps most and change course if needed.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when visual cues matter. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief check-ins, ongoing support between appointments, or when writing helps people process thoughts. These options make it easier to schedule therapy around work, family obligations, and travel.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Grief
- HIV / AIDS
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English