Looking fine and feeling fine are two VERY different things.
Ready to see what therapy could look like?
Book Your Free 30-Minute ConsultationYou're the one everyone counts on. The one who figures it out, gets things done, shows up for everyone else, and somehow manages to keep all the plates spinning.
You're capable. You're responsible. You're probably pretty good at making it look easy.
But behind the "I've got this," you might be exhausted, overwhelmed, disconnected, anxious, or wondering how much longer you can keep doing things this way.
I work with high-functioning women, helpers, fixers, and those who are used to holding everything together for everyone else but are quietly running on empty.
I'm Michele Caton-Richardson, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing virtual therapy for adults in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas. My practice focuses on grief and trauma, with an understanding of how those experiences can affect the way we function, relate to others, and show up in our everyday lives.
You don't have to have everything figured out before you get here.
You might not identify as someone who needs therapy. After all, you're still getting things done.
You're going to work, taking care of responsibilities, answering messages, managing everyone else's needs, and checking things off your list.
But being productive doesn't necessarily mean you're doing well.
I often work with women who are therapists, healthcare professionals, first responders, executives, entrepreneurs, leaders, caregivers, and other helpers who have become exceptionally good at functioning through difficult things.
Maybe you recognize yourself in some of these experiences:
Sometimes these patterns are connected to trauma, grief, anxiety, or neurodivergence that has gone unrecognized or unsupported. Sometimes they've become ways of adapting to life and getting through what needed to be managed.
Whatever the story, therapy can be a place to explore what's underneath the patterns instead of continuing to work around them.
If some of this sounds familiar, you might also want to visit my Feeling Off? page.
I've noticed a pattern in the women I work with.
They're often the ones everyone describes as strong.
And while those things may be true, they don't tell the whole story.
Because being the person who can handle everything often comes at a cost.
Difficulty slowing down. Feeling guilty when resting. Struggling with boundaries. Overthinking everything. Feeling disconnected from yourself or wondering why the things that used to feel good don't anymore.
For some women, these patterns are connected to trauma, grief, or neurodivergence that was never recognized or adequately supported.
And no, you don't have to wait until you completely fall apart to start paying attention.
You don't have to keep fixing everything. It's okay to start healing.
You don't have to experience one particular kind of loss or trauma for it to affect you. And you don't have to be in crisis for your experiences to deserve attention.
My clinical focus is grief and trauma, with support for the anxiety, emotional overwhelm, and burnout that can accompany them.
Grief isn't limited to the death of someone you love. It can show up after a relationship ends, a major life transition, changes in identity, unexpected circumstances, or the loss of what you thought life would look like.
Grief can affect your relationships, concentration, sleep, emotions, and sense of self. Therapy can provide space to understand your experience without rushing you through it or expecting you to have a particular timeline.
Explore Grief Therapy
Trauma doesn't always look the way people expect. Sometimes it shows up as anxiety, irritability, overthinking, feeling constantly on guard, difficulty trusting others, or struggling to feel safe even when life seems okay.
I incorporate trauma-informed approaches, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), to help clients work through distressing experiences and the ways those experiences continue to affect them.
Explore Trauma Therapy & EMDRWhen you've spent a long time pushing through, caring for others, or operating in survival mode, it can be difficult to recognize what you need.
Therapy can help you understand the patterns contributing to emotional exhaustion, explore healthier ways of coping, and reconnect with yourself.
Visit the Feeling Off? pageFor some clients, a traditional 50-minute therapy session isn't the best fit for the work they want to do or the schedule they maintain. For the “I don’t have time for therapy” crowd, I also offer customized EMDR intensives, with extended sessions designed around individual goals, needs and schedules.
Intensives may be appropriate for people working through trauma, grief, anxiety, and other distressing experiences. We'll discuss whether this format makes sense during a consultation.
Learn About EMDR IntensivesFirst things first: therapy isn't about me telling you what to do.
I know. Sometimes that's exactly what you want.
But my job isn't to hand you a list of instructions, tell you how to live your life, or convince you that you need to become a completely different person.
Think of therapy as a collaborative process. You're the team captain. I'm here to bring clinical experience, perspective, curiosity, and the occasional question that might make you stop and think.
I've been a therapist for over 13 years, working with adults through trauma, grief, anxiety, life transitions, and some of the messier parts of being human.
My approach draws from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and other trauma-informed approaches.
But the most important part?
My approach and belief is therapy should be collaborative, individualized, and paced around your needs and comfort.
You don't owe me a smile.
You don't owe me clarity or niceties.
You don't have to make your experiences easier to understand, package them neatly, or spend the session convincing me that you're doing okay.
Whether you're processing grief, working through trauma, trying to understand your patterns, or simply recognizing that something feels off, there's room for all of it here.
I'm just glad you chose yourself today.
Caton Richardson Mental Health PLLC is a fully virtual therapy practice providing online therapy for adults located in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas.
Telehealth gives you the opportunity to attend therapy from a private, comfortable space without adding another commute or appointment to an already full schedule.
My practice is private pay and offers a Pay What You Can (PWYC) model. This approach allows us to have a conversation about a fee that feels manageable and sustainable for your circumstances. More about pricing can be found on my FAQs page [FAQs page link]
Therapy should be an investment in your well-being, not another source of unnecessary stress.
Serving adults located in:
You don't have to wait until things get worse. You don't have to have the perfect explanation for why you're reaching out. And you don't need to know exactly what you want to work on before we talk.
I offer a free, 30-minute consultation so we can connect, talk about what brings you to therapy, and see whether working together feels like a good fit.
No pressure. No obligation. Just an opportunity to ask questions, get a feel for my approach, and decide what feels right for you.
You spend a lot of time showing up for everyone else. Maybe it's time to make a little room for yourself.
Book Your Free 30-Minute Consultation Read the FAQs