Kathy Rubendall, LCSW

Kathy Rubendall is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 30 years of experience helping people facing anxiety, depression, addiction, grief, and major life changes. She speaks plainly and listens closely to understand each person's situation before working on a plan together.

Her style is warm and interactive. She focuses on respect, acceptance, and compassion while helping clients set clear goals. Sessions emphasize practical steps people can try between meetings to build momentum.

Kathy draws on client-centered methods that prioritize the client's perspective. She also uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thinking and test new behaviors. When emotions run high, she brings in skills from dialectical behavior therapy to help regulate feelings and improve coping.

Motivational interviewing and solution-focused strategies are part of her toolbox for people who want to clarify choices and move toward specific changes. She adapts approaches to each person's needs, whether the concern is chronic pain and illness, relationship struggles, eating and body image, or caregiver stress.

Based in North Carolina, Kathy has experience with complex challenges such as bipolar disorder, trauma and attachment issues related to adoption, and caregiving burdens. She aims to make therapy manageable and straightforward so people can get back to daily life with clearer tools and hope.

Approaches that fit everyday life and online care

Kathy uses cognitive behavioral therapy and client-centered methods to help people change thoughts and behaviors that cause distress. CBT breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions so people can try new ways of responding and measure what works. Client-centered work focuses on listening, empathy, and building a plan that feels right for each person.

She also draws on dialectical behavior therapy when intense emotions or self-destructive patterns interfere with daily life. DBT offers practical skills for managing strong feelings, improving relationships, and tolerating distress without making things worse. Together these approaches give tools for mood challenges, anxiety, addiction concerns, grief, and coping with life transitions.

Finding the right combination of methods is part of the process. Kathy works collaboratively to choose strategies based on a person's goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't helped before. She will adjust the plan over time as clients learn what fits their life.

Online therapy with video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging provides flexibility for people juggling work, caregiving, or mobility limits. Video is useful for full conversation and visual cues, phone can be easier when bandwidth is limited, and chat or messaging supports quick check-ins or skill practice between sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent and tied to real-life situations.