Sarah Axley, LCSW

Sarah Axley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 15 years of clinical experience who helps people facing stress, anxiety, addiction, grief, depression, and changes that come with aging and caregiving. She offers a calm, practical approach and focuses on building skills you can use between sessions. Sarah emphasizes collaboration and respects each person’s strengths as part of the work.

She trained in psychology and social work at Virginia Commonwealth University and completed a post-baccalaureate certificate in Aging Studies through VCU’s Department of Gerontology. Sarah has provided psychotherapy since 2009 in outpatient clinics, intensive community settings, and in a hospital where she currently works full time. Her background includes work with a wide range of diagnoses and life situations, and she identifies as LGBTQ+ informed.

In sessions she blends client-centered methods, cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and narrative approaches. Treatment is practical and goal-oriented, with an emphasis on changing unhelpful thinking, building coping skills, and improving communication. Homework or small tasks between sessions are commonly used to support progress.

Sarah favors a strengths-based outlook and encourages clients to recognize their resilience. She aims to help people understand their patterns, reduce symptoms, and find clearer ways to handle life stressors. Her work also includes support around hospice, end-of-life concerns, chronic illness, caregiver stress, and issues that arise with aging.

Readers in Virginia and beyond who want a direct, collaborative therapist may find her style approachable. To move forward, the usual next step is to complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule an appointment.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and responding to what matters most to you, helping you feel heard and guiding decisions about goals and next steps. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at unhelpful thoughts and habits and teaches concrete skills to change them, which can help with anxiety, depression, sleep, and coping with life changes. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices that reduce stress and improve mood; these techniques are easy to practice between sessions.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to choose methods that match your needs, goals, and preferences. That may mean trying different techniques early on and adjusting what you focus on as progress is made.

Confirm current session options before booking to learn how she schedules online work. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, shorten travel time, and allow for check-ins that align with work or caregiving schedules. It also lets people practice new skills in the moments they are needed and bring real-life situations into conversation more quickly.