Dr. Kathleen Ayers, CA Psychologist 18954

Dr. Kathleen Ayers helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and caregiving strain. She supports those managing chronic pain, long-term illness, sleep problems, and the emotional toll of life changes. She also works with people dealing with grief, relationship and intimacy issues, ADHD, and compassion fatigue. Dr. Ayers is a California psychologist with decades of clinical experience.

Her approach blends practical skills with acceptance-based work. She often uses cognitive behavioral methods to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and pairs that with acceptance and commitment strategies to clarify values and commit to meaningful action. She also draws on dialectical behavior techniques to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills.

Sessions frequently include targeted exercises and brief homework to practice new skills between meetings. She pays attention to how physical health, pain, and sleep affect mood and behavior, and she brings that into treatment planning. She has background in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and in nutritional topics, though she does not practice as a dietitian.

Dr. Ayers has worked in the field for 32 years and has experience running both individual and group work. Her style is straightforward and compassionate, and she aims to create a calm space where people feel heard. She invites collaboration on practical steps that fit each person’s life.

People using supporting carers resources may find her experience relevant for caregiver stress and burnout, and for coping with chronic medical conditions and the stresses they produce.

How ACT, CBT, and DBT inform online care

Dr. Ayers uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that feed anxiety, depression, and pain-related distress. CBT often includes specific experiments and small behavior changes to try between sessions.

She also draws from acceptance and commitment therapy, which focuses on clarifying what matters to a person and taking committed action despite difficult feelings. ACT can be helpful for chronic pain, caregiver stress, and recurring worry when avoidance has become a default response.

Dialectical behavior therapy provides concrete skills for managing intense emotions and tolerating crisis moments. DBT-style skills can support people who struggle with anger, panic, or overwhelming distress.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Dr. Ayers will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and daily life. That decision is revisited as progress unfolds so techniques can be adjusted.

Please confirm current session options before booking, as formats are not specified here. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow brief check-ins when a full in-person visit is difficult. It can also let people continue work on skills between appointments and bring real-life situations into therapy planning.