Cathy Bottrell

Cathy Bottrell is a licensed clinical social worker with 23 years of experience helping people navigate grief, life transitions, and hard changes. She holds a District of Columbia LICSW and a Virginia LCSW and offers straightforward counseling to adults and teens who need a steady, listening presence.

Cathy draws on proven therapies to help people manage anxiety, depression, stress, and relationship or intimacy-related concerns. She also supports people facing chronic illness, caregiver strain, adoption and foster care issues, and challenges around addiction or compulsive behavior. Career concerns and coping with big life changes are part of her practice as well.

Sessions focus on understanding what matters to each person and building small, practical steps forward. Cathy uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, client-centered methods, cognitive behavioral techniques, and mindfulness practices to help people notice thoughts and make values-based choices. The work is collaborative and paced to fit each person's needs.

Her approach is down-to-earth and direct. She helps people talk through painful experiences, develop coping skills, and try new ways of responding to stress. Sleep problems, anger, parenting strain, and compassion fatigue are among the issues she commonly addresses.

People who choose Cathy find a steady guide through transition and loss. She invites prospective clients to take the first step toward change by selecting the Start Therapy button and completing the short matching questionnaire to schedule according to availability.

How her approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people clarify what matters to them and take small steps toward those values even when emotions feel overwhelming. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on noticing unhelpful thinking and trying different behaviors to reduce distress and improve daily routines. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and improve sleep and focus.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Cathy works together with each person to decide which methods fit their goals, needs, and preferences. That collaborative decision can shift over time as progress and challenges become clearer.

Confirm current session options before booking so you know what formats are available. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins on tough days. It can also let someone use less bandwidth or avoid being on camera when that makes sessions easier to manage. Licensed professionals, including therapists, will help tailor scheduling and the session style to practical needs while focusing on the therapeutic work.