Kathleen McCarthy, LCSW

Wisconsin · 34 years in practice

Kathleen McCarthy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Wisconsin with 34 years of clinical experience.

License and registration

LCSW, Wisconsin: 3630-123 · expires February 2027
NPI: 1346334034 · national provider identifier
Years in practice: 34
Languages: English

Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.

About Kathleen

Kathleen McCarthy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Wisconsin with 34 years of clinical experience. She brings a trauma-informed, whole-person approach that blends practical tools with attention to emotions and behavior. Kathleen focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, and trauma-related symptoms while addressing everyday struggles like sleep, eating, and self-esteem.

Her background emphasizes trauma work, and she uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as one tool to help people process difficult memories.

Background and approach

She also integrates cognitive behavioral strategies to change unhelpful thinking and behaviors. Kathleen uses hypnotherapy and mindfulness methods when those approaches match a person’s needs. Sessions are conversational and goal-oriented.

She helps people break problems into manageable steps and develop coping skills they can use between meetings. Kathleen pays attention to physical, emotional, and spiritual factors that affect wellbeing and adapts methods to the person in front of her. She has worked across a wide range of concerns including grief, relationship and intimacy issues, parenting stress, care-related burnout, ADHD, and mood disorders.

She also supports people dealing with adoption or foster care concerns, first responder stresses, fertility challenges, and recovery from disaster-related trauma. People can expect straightforward guidance, practical exercises, and a focus on what changes are possible now. Kathleen’s long experience shapes a calm, steady style that aims to help people regain functioning and move toward their goals.

Focus areas and approaches

Everything Kathleen lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.

Stress, Anxiety
Relationship issues
Family conflicts
Trauma and abuse
Depression
Addictions
LGBT
Grief
Intimacy-related issues
Eating disorders
Sleeping disorders
Parenting issues
Anger management
Self esteem
Career difficulties
Bipolar disorder
Coping with life changes
Coaching
Compassion fatigue
ADHD
Adoption and foster care
Co-morbidity
Codependency
Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
Eating and food-related issues
Family problems
Fertility issues
First responder issues
Isolation / loneliness
Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Mood disorders
Phobias
Postpartum depression
Post-traumatic stress
Self-love
Sexual assault and abuse
Social anxiety and phobia
Women's issues
Workplace issues

Approaches Kathleen names

Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.

Online support

Practical approaches delivered online

Kathleen uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and EMDR as central parts of her online practice. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with small behavioral changes to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. EMDR involves guided processing of distressing memories to lessen their emotional impact and can help with trauma-related symptoms.

She also draws on hypnotherapy when appropriate to support relaxation and access helpful mental states for change. Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process: the therapist and client discuss symptoms, goals, and comfort with different methods and decide together which tools to try first. Adjustments happen over time based on how the work is going.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for face-to-face interaction and exercises that use visual cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief updates, coaching-style support, or when someone prefers typing to speaking. These options make scheduling more flexible and help people fit therapy into busy lives.

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Questions people ask

What kinds of concerns does she address?

Kathleen works with a wide range of issues including stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, addictions, grief, relationship and intimacy-related issues, sleep and eating concerns, and career or life-change struggles.

What is her therapeutic style?

Her style is practical and trauma-informed, combining goal-focused work with emotional processing. Sessions mix talk, skills practice, and techniques tailored to each person.

How much experience does she have?

She has 34 years of clinical experience working in behavioral health settings and with people facing complex life and trauma-related problems.

What are her credentials and where is she based?

She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) licensed in Wisconsin and practices from that state.

Which languages are supported?

Sessions are offered in English and international clients are accepted.

What session formats are offered?

She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.

How are sessions paid for?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

How do I begin working with her?

Choose the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.

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