Ashley Farrens

Ashley Farrens is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Missouri with 10 years of clinical experience. She works with people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, self-esteem concerns, and compassion fatigue. She also focuses on issues such as divorce and separation, forgiveness, guilt and shame, life purpose, post-traumatic stress, self-love, and social anxiety. Farrens uses practical conversation to help clients clarify next steps. She adapts sessions to what each person brings, using discussion and problem-solving rather than one fixed method. Sessions often look at thoughts and behaviors that keep someone stuck, and at small skills that can shift day-to-day life. Her approach draws on client-centered principles, which means she listens closely to the person’s priorities and goals. She also uses cognitive behavioral tools to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and replace them with more workable ways of responding. Mindfulness techniques are added when slowing down and noticing present-moment experience helps reduce reactivity. Across ten years she has worked with people who face varied life stressors and losses. That practical background informs a straightforward style that focuses on usable steps. Conversations typically include checking current coping, clarifying values or purpose, and trying small experiments between sessions. To begin, Farrens asks about what feels most pressing and what a manageable next step would be. She helps map options and agrees on short-term goals. The emphasis is on clear, doable actions that fit into everyday life rather than abstract theory.

How her approaches guide online sessions

Farrens commonly blends client-centered work with cognitive behavioral strategies. Client-centered work focuses on listening to what matters most to the person and shaping sessions around their priorities. Cognitive behavioral therapy looks at thought patterns and behaviors that keep someone stuck, and helps develop practical experiments to test new responses. Mindfulness techniques may be introduced to help notice reactions and reduce reactivity. These practices are brief and focused, such as simple breathing or attention exercises that can be practiced between meetings. Finding the right approach is part of the work together. She will review goals, try methods, and adjust based on what helps most. That collaborative process looks at the person’s needs, preferences, and daily life to decide which tools to use. Confirm the current session formats before booking, as the biography does not list specific online options. Online work can make it easier to fit appointments into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins when time is limited, and reduce travel time. Discuss session length and frequency during the initial scheduling so they fit into everyday routines.