Carleigh O'Brien, LCSW

Carleigh O'Brien is a licensed clinical social worker with nine years of experience helping people navigate life changes and distress. She practices from Montana and offers straightforward, skills-based care that many find easy to use. Carleigh focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship struggles in ways that fit daily life.

She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) alongside mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches to help clients notice unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. Sessions are practical and goal oriented, with simple tools and small experiments people can try between meetings. Her style is warm and down-to-earth, emphasizing clear steps over jargon.

Carleigh also pays attention to attachment and communication patterns that affect relationships and parenting. She helps people who are coping with trauma, grief, postpartum mood changes, or challenges after major life shifts. She supports people working through intimacy concerns, anger, self-esteem, ADHD-related struggles, and career stress.

Her training and clinical background include work with trauma and relational issues, and she blends acceptance strategies with client-centered listening. Carleigh aims to meet people where they are and to adapt tools to each person’s situation. She speaks English and practices in Montana.

People start by clarifying what matters most to them and then build small, manageable steps toward change. Carleigh works with practical skills, mindfulness exercises, and talk that helps people see new options and feel more in control.

Approach-driven online therapy that fits your life

Carleigh uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. CBT focuses on practical skills and small experiments that can reduce anxiety, manage mood, and improve daily functioning. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is another common thread in her work; ACT emphasizes noticing difficult feelings, clarifying values, and taking committed actions that match what matters most.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Carleigh works together with each person to choose which methods to try and adjusts the plan as progress is made. She listens to what matters to the client and tailors homework and strategies to their goals and routines.

Online therapy is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which makes scheduling easier for busy lives. Video is useful for face-to-face conversation and skill coaching, while phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or a quieter setting is available. Live chat and text messaging allow shorter check-ins, ongoing support between sessions, and flexible ways to track progress without always scheduling a full appointment.