Katherine Barlow, LCSW

Katherine Barlow is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people manage stress, anxiety, trauma and issues with self-esteem. She focuses on practical steps clients can use day to day. Her work often centers on restoring motivation and building confidence so people feel more able to handle their lives.

With 12 years of experience in California, Katherine adapts conversations and plans to each person she sees. She approaches sessions with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. That means listening first, asking what matters to you, and then creating goals together.

Her background includes work with people affected by adoption and foster care, caregiver stress, substance use, and hospice and end-of-life concerns. She also supports people coping with dissociation, domestic violence, mood challenges, and prejudice-related stress. Aging and geriatric issues are listed among her additional focus areas.

In sessions she uses a mix of methods drawn from cognitive behavioral techniques, trauma-focused work, psychodynamic ideas, motivational interviewing, and EMDR. These are used to help process difficult memories, shift unhelpful thoughts, and build practical coping skills.

People who choose Katherine can expect a collaborative process. She helps set clear, manageable steps and adjusts the plan as progress is made. The goal is steady, realistic change that fits each person’s life.

How these approaches translate to online therapy

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, helps people process painful memories so those memories feel less overwhelming. It often involves recalling a memory while using guided bilateral stimulation to reduce emotional intensity, which can help with post-traumatic stress and trauma-related symptoms.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and changing behaviors that keep problems going. It uses practical exercises and homework to build skills for managing anxiety, low mood, and daily stressors.

Motivational Interviewing is a conversational approach that helps people find their own reasons to make changes. It is useful when motivation feels low or ambivalence about change is strong.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, needs, and preferences and choose methods together. That makes sessions more likely to fit the person’s life and aims.

Session formats are not listed in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. Licensed professionals can adapt these approaches to remote work so progress continues even when meeting by distance.