Sarah Axley, LCSW

Sarah Axley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 15 years of practice who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, grief, and related challenges. She works with individuals who are navigating major life changes, parenting strain, sleep problems, low self-esteem, and trauma. Sarah is LGBTQ+ informed and accepts international clients.

Sarah uses clear, practical methods in sessions. She favors cognitive behavioral techniques that help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. She also draws on client-centered and mindfulness approaches to build coping skills and calm overwhelm.

She earned a Master of Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Aging Studies with VCU’s Department of Gerontology. Since 2009 she has practiced in outpatient clinics, intensive community programs, and hospital settings. She obtained her LCSW in 2012.

Sessions include goal-focused work and hands-on practice between meetings. Homework might include trying new ways of thinking, brief experiments, or mindfulness exercises. Sarah emphasizes strengths and helps people notice progress over time.

Sarah balances practical skill-building with listening and collaboration. She meets people where they are, and works together to set realistic goals and steps forward.

How Sarah Brings Practical Therapy Online

Sarah blends cognitive behavioral methods and mindfulness in online sessions to help people change thinking patterns and reduce stress. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors to ease anxiety, depression, and problems like sleep difficulties or addictive behaviors. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing exercises to reduce reactivity and increase focus, which often helps with stress, grief, and everyday overwhelm.

Finding the right approach is a shared process. Sarah will talk with each person about goals and preferences, try techniques together, and adjust the plan as needed. Clients decide what feels useful and what to keep practicing between sessions, making therapy a collaborative effort rather than a one-size-fits-all program.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to match different needs. Video is useful for full conversations and visual cues, phone can work when bandwidth is limited, and text or chat can support quick check-ins or brief skill practice. These options let people fit sessions into busy schedules, handle brief follow-ups between meetings, and use tools that suit their daily life.