About Kathleen
Dr. Kathleen Ayers is a California psychologist with 32 years of experience. She helps people cope with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, ADHD, grief, relationship and intimacy concerns, sleep problems, anger, and low self-esteem.
She also supports those managing bipolar symptoms, compassion fatigue, and major life changes. She has worked extensively with people who live with chronic pain and long-term medical conditions. That work shaped a straightforward, compassionate style that respects each person's experience.
Background and approach
She often includes small assignments between sessions to practice new skills and habits. Her approach blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. These methods are used to identify unhelpful thinking, build practical coping skills, and clarify personal values.
Sessions focus on real-life changes people can use right away. Dr. Ayers is licensed as a California Psychologist, license number 18954.
She also has training related to sleep problems and to the interaction of nutrition and health, though she is not a dietitian or nutritionist. Her background includes both individual and group work. People describe her tone as caring and direct.
She aims to create a respectful space where concerns are heard and practical steps are planned. For someone juggling health issues, chronic pain, or persistent anxiety, she offers steady guidance and clear tools to try.
How evidence-based approaches work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying what matters to a person and taking small steps toward those values. It helps with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and getting unstuck by building committed action.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behavior and teaches concrete strategies to reduce symptoms. It is useful for anxiety, panic, sleep problems, and managing repetitive unhelpful thinking.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and stronger interpersonal skills. It can help people who struggle with intense emotions, relationship conflict, or chronic stress.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, try methods that fit those goals, and adjust the plan as progress is made. Clients and the therapist decide together which tools are most useful.
Online sessions are offered by licensed professionals using video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video works well for in-depth work and skill practice, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text messaging can be useful for short check-ins or when typing feels more comfortable. These options make therapy more flexible for people juggling health needs, work, or caregiving responsibilities.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Grief
- Hoarding
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Somatization
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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