About Sarah
Sarah Axley greets people with a straightforward message: reaching out for help is a strong first step. She focuses on building a working relationship where the person in therapy helps set goals and decide the pace of work. Sarah is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and she brings 15 years of experience to sessions.
She uses plain, practical methods to help people manage everyday distress. That can mean talking through upsetting events, learning new ways to handle anxiety or depression, or building skills to cope with grief and loss.
Background and approach
Sessions often include small tasks to try between meetings so progress continues outside of sessions. Sarah draws on approaches like cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, and motivational interviewing to match what a person needs in the moment. She also uses narrative and client-centered methods to help people make sense of difficult experiences and change unhelpful patterns.
Her background includes work in outpatient mental health, community-based programs, and hospital settings. She studied psychology and social work at Virginia Commonwealth University and completed a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Aging Studies. She has worked with people facing depression, bipolar conditions, anxiety, trauma, substance use concerns, autism spectrum differences, and grief.
Sarah aims to work from a strengths-based stance. She helps people spot resilience they already have, then builds practical tools to handle stress, improve communication, and navigate life changes. Sessions are available in English and accept international clients by arrangement.
Approaches that translate well to online therapy
Client-centered work focuses on what matters most to the person in therapy and values their goals and choices. This approach helps when someone wants a supportive space to make sense of feelings or to decide what to change. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and teaches practical skills to shift them; it often helps with anxiety, depression, sleep, and coping with change. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and improve emotion regulation, and it pairs well with other skills work.Choosing the right approach is a shared task. The therapist will talk with the person about their needs, goals, and preferences and then try methods that fit. Over a few sessions they will check what’s working and adjust the plan together, so therapy stays useful and focused.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for in-depth sessions where visual cues matter. Phone sessions are a good option when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text allow brief check-ins, skill practice between sessions, and flexible communication during the week. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, family, or health challenges while keeping the work goal-oriented and practical.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Virginia
- Languages
- English