About Barbara
Barbara Kirkman is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 40 years of experience. She draws on a long clinical history to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, and ADHD-related challenges. Barbara writes plainly and focuses on practical steps people can take right away.
Barbara's path into counseling grew from personal recovery and lived experience. She earned a master's degree in counseling psychology from the University of Tennessee and began work at a recovery center.
Background and approach
Early roles included aftercare supervision, helping people stabilize during the first months of recovery, and outpatient therapy at a community mental health agency. Over decades of practice she has counseled people facing depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and the effects of domestic abuse. She also supports those coping with grief, relationship struggles, eating or sleeping problems, and life transitions.
ADHD appears among the concerns she addresses, alongside issues like substance use and codependency. Her approach combines Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Mindfulness Therapy. She aims to meet each person where they are and help them discover workable coping strategies.
In sessions she encourages self-awareness and practical skill-building rather than jargon or complicated theory. Barbara keeps mostly daytime hours with some evenings and weekends to be flexible for busy schedules. She describes clients as the experts on their lives and offers guidance shaped by both professional training and personal recovery.
The goal is a life with more meaning, joy, and satisfaction.
Therapeutic approaches and online support
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding the person's experience. The therapist follows the client's lead, reflects back what she hears, and helps the client name what matters most. This approach is helpful for people who want a supportive space to figure things out.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions link together. It teaches clear, practical strategies to reduce anxiety, manage mood swings, change unhelpful habits, and handle ADHD-related challenges in daily routines. Mindfulness Therapy adds simple attention and breathing practices to help reduce stress and improve focus.
Finding the right mix of methods is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to decide which approaches fit their goals and preferences. Treatment plans are adjusted over time based on what helps and what doesn't.
Online therapy offers flexibility for busy lives. Video calls let people use visual cues and deeper conversation. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging make it easier to fit brief updates or coping suggestions into a day. These options make it simpler to keep continuity of care and to use the therapeutic tools learned in sessions in real life.
Questions people ask
What concerns does Barbara help with?
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How much clinical experience does she have?
Where is the therapist based and what are her credentials?
Which languages and international arrangements are supported?
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How do I begin working with her?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Codependency
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 40 years
- Licensed
- Texas
- Languages
- English
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