Joy Kelleher

Joy Kelleher is a licensed clinical social worker who helps people navigate major life changes and everyday stresses. She greets new clients with a calm, practical approach and focuses on what matters to each person. Her style aims to lower barriers to counseling so people can get started more easily.

With 25 years of social work experience, Joy draws on a wide range of work with adults facing anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship concerns. She uses a relational, strength-based approach that centers each person’s goals and resources. Sessions tend to focus on building resilience, managing distress, and finding steps that fit a client’s life.

Joy blends several therapy approaches to match what a person needs in the moment. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people clarify values and take meaningful action. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps with changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Mindfulness practices are offered to reduce reactivity and increase calm.

Her background includes extensive international work and many years supporting young adults through life transitions. She also volunteers as an assistant swim coach at a local university, where she helps athletes balance school, sport, and personal development. This ongoing community work informs her practical, real-world focus.

In sessions, clients can expect empathetic listening, concrete tools, and collaborative planning. Joy describes therapy as a partnership where clients rebuild confidence, process loss or trauma, and make sustainable changes. She looks forward to learning about each person’s story and helping them move forward.

How Joy’s approaches translate to online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people name what matters most and take small, practical steps toward those values. It can be useful for life transitions, motivation, and coping with stress. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and trying new behaviors to reduce anxiety and low mood. It often includes specific exercises and practice between sessions. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and increase present-moment calm, which can support grief, panic, and ongoing worry.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Joy will work with each person to decide which methods fit their needs and goals. She combines techniques from different models so the plan can adapt as progress is made.

Confirm the current session options before booking, as formats are not specified here. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, shorten commute time, and allow brief check-ins when needed. It also supports regular practice of skills between meetings and lets therapists use worksheets, guided exercises, and mindfulness practices during sessions. If you want to explore whether this style of online work matches your life, mention your daily routine and goals when you complete the matching questionnaire.