Miriam Matthews

Miriam Matthews is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (MA LICSW) and a Virginia LCSW with 10 years of experience. She focuses on anxiety, depression, sexual trauma, relationships, and life changes, including issues around grief, intimacy, and self-esteem. Miriam also lists life purpose among her areas of focus. She uses a client-centered approach that starts with what matters to the person in front of her. Sessions often include practical problem solving and goal-focused techniques drawn from solution-focused therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is used to help people recognize and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. Miriam’s background includes work in behavioral health, the March of Dimes supporting women and babies, Child Protective Services, hospice care, and geriatric health care. That range informs how she talks with people about caregiving stress, bereavement, and complex life transitions. She also has experience advocating for people facing economic and social challenges. In sessions she blends conversational listening with practical tools. That can mean using motivational interviewing to clarify goals, offering steps to reduce anxiety, or practicing new communication skills. She helps people find small, concrete changes when bigger decisions feel overwhelming. People who contact Miriam typically want to address emotional wounds, clarify purpose after a change, or manage daily stressors more effectively. To start she asks about current concerns and goals, then shapes sessions around those priorities.

How her approaches translate to online sessions

Miriam draws on Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Solution-Focused Therapy in short, practical ways during sessions. Client-Centered Therapy means the conversation follows the person’s concerns and priorities, with the therapist reflecting back what matters most. CBT involves noticing patterns of thinking and behavior and practicing different responses to reduce anxiety or low mood. Solution-Focused Therapy concentrates on small, achievable steps and on times when the problem is less severe, which helps when someone feels stuck.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. She will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has helped or not helped before. That collaborative decision shapes whether sessions lean more toward skill practice, problem solving, or goal-setting techniques.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm the available options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, allow shorter check-in sessions when needed, and reduce travel time. It can also let people continue care across life changes while keeping the focus on practical steps and clear goals.