Ashley Hutchens, LICSW, LCSW

Ashley Hutchens is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and family concerns, trauma and abuse, and issues like addiction and grief. She brings seven years of clinical experience in community mental health to each session. Ashley aims to make small changes that add up to meaningful improvement in daily life.

She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, among other approaches, to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. Sessions are straightforward and practical, with clear steps to practice between meetings. Ashley also incorporates mindfulness and skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy when emotion regulation is a focus.

Ashley frames therapy in a social work perspective, looking at how health, family, work, and community fit together. She supports people through issues such as parenting strain, caregiver stress, body image, chronic illness, and communication problems. She can also address concerns around bipolar disorder, eating or sleeping difficulties, and intimacy-related problems.

Her style is compassionate and calm, encouraging people to tell their story at a pace that feels right. She aims to create a comfortable space for difficult topics, including trauma narratives and grief.

Ashley practices in West Virginia and offers care in English. She blends practical tools, collaborative problem solving, and support to help people move toward goals they find meaningful.

How therapeutic approaches work online

CBT helps people identify thoughts that lead to difficult feelings and behaviors and then test and shift those thoughts to try different actions; online CBT sessions focus on concrete exercises and homework that can be practiced between appointments. DBT emphasizes skills for managing intense emotions, improving relationships, and tolerating distress; in teletherapy DBT skills can be taught, practiced, and reviewed with worksheets and between-session messaging. The Gottman Method targets relationship patterns and communication, using structured exercises and feedback to strengthen connection and reduce conflict in couples work.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to choose methods that match a person's goals, needs, and preferences. That may mean combining CBT with mindfulness or motivational interviewing techniques and adjusting the plan over time based on what helps most.

Online sessions offer practical flexibility. Video calls let a therapist and client use visual cues and screen-shared worksheets. Phone sessions can be a low-bandwidth option or a quicker check-in. Live chat and text-based messaging support brief progress updates, coaching between sessions, and help practicing skills in real time. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and keep consistent momentum toward goals.