Willow Wakeley-Smith
Supportive therapist focused on practical relationship work
LCSW Missouri
- Experience
- 5 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Parenting, Bipolar
- Approaches
- Gottman Method, Client-Centered Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Willow
Willow Wakeley-Smith is a licensed clinical social worker who uses practical, relationship-focused methods to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and parenting challenges. She draws on Gottman Method ideas alongside client-centered and cognitive tools to create clear, usable steps clients can take between sessions.
Background and approach
Willow keeps language direct and approachable so busy parents can read and act on what she offers. Willow individualizes treatment plans to match each person’s goals and life context.
She emphasizes respect and sensitivity while adjusting strategies as progress unfolds. Sessions aim to produce real-life changes rather than abstract talk.
Her background includes five years of clinical work with adults and more than ten years in professional roles involving children and school systems. That school experience informs her understanding of parenting struggles and working with caregivers.
Willow’s Missouri LCSW credential reflects her clinical standing in the state. In therapy she mixes brief cognitive-behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, and motivational interviewing to increase focus, reduce anxious thinking, and rebuild routines.
She also uses narrative approaches to help people reframe troubling stories they tell themselves. Practical homework and short-term skills often accompany longer-term exploration.
Willow supports people coping with relationship strain, grief, sleep disruption, substance concerns, compulsive behaviors, and life transitions. She also addresses issues tied to adoption and foster care, caregiver stress, gender dysphoria, autism spectrum concerns, and self-esteem.
Sessions are conducted in English and offered via video, phone, chat, or text messaging.
How Willow’s Approaches Work Online
Willow draws on Gottman Method ideas to look at how people interact and communicate in close relationships. That work focuses on practical skills for reducing conflict and improving daily communication patterns. Client-centered therapy forms the backbone of her style by prioritizing listening and tailoring the session to what the person brings that day, which helps people feel heard and understood.She also uses cognitive-behavioral therapy to spot unhelpful thinking and build new habits. CBT gives concrete steps you can try between sessions for anxiety, mood shifts, sleep, and focus problems. Together these approaches let Willow adapt between skill-building and deeper conversation based on each person's needs and goals, and she collaborates with clients to decide what feels most useful.r>
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and preferences. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and nonverbal cues, phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited, and chat or messaging suits brief check-ins or ongoing support between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and try different ways of working until a good fit is found.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
5+ years
Licensed in
Missouri
Languages
English