Kathleen Cates-Richardson, LMFT

Kathleen Cates-Richardson is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) with 16 years of clinical experience. She offers a steady, straightforward presence for people facing anxiety, depression, grief, relationship strains, and challenges with addiction. Kathleen aims to create a space where clients can speak freely without judgment. She emphasizes practical steps toward clearer thinking and better daily routines.

Her approach centers on working with each person as an individual. She uses client-centered methods to stay focused on what matters to the client. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps break unhelpful thought and behavior patterns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy supports emotion regulation and distress tolerance when feelings feel overwhelming.

Kathleen also draws on emotionally-focused and existential ideas to help people understand their relationships and life meaning. She often helps clients who struggle with intimacy-related issues, trauma and abuse, sleep problems, or complicated caregiving roles. Other concerns she addresses include abandonment, adoption and foster care matters, aging issues, autism spectrum considerations, and substance use problems.

She holds licenses in Iowa and Arizona and works with people in English. Clients often come wanting practical tools and honest conversation. Kathleen’s style is collaborative: she listens, offers clear suggestions, and supports clients as they try new ways of coping.

To begin, she asks people to reflect on their goals and priorities so sessions can focus on what will make daily life better. Her work balances emotional understanding with concrete skill building.

How Kathleen’s approaches work in online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening closely to the client's priorities and building sessions around their goals. It helps people feel heard and guides the therapist to tailor suggestions to what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and teaches simple exercises to change unhelpful patterns; it is often used for anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers concrete skills for managing intense emotions and tolerating distress, which can be useful for people dealing with addictions or relationship volatility.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Kathleen will talk with each person about goals, try out methods, and adjust based on what helps. That collaborative process means clients get a mix of listening, emotion work, and practical skills tailored to their needs.

The original biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm the available online options before scheduling. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and remove travel time. For many people, remote sessions let them try therapeutic skills in daily life and then discuss how those changes are going during the next meeting.