About Colleen
Colleen Overholt is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California who helps people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, depression, and parenting challenges. She also supports those coping with relationship and family conflict, sleep problems, career strain, ADHD, and life transitions.
Background and approach
Colleen draws on a long clinical history to meet people where they are and work toward clearer day-to-day coping. She uses a straightforward, empathetic style in sessions.
Colleen listens first, then offers structure and practical steps. She encourages people to speak up about their goals and to try small changes that build confidence.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is often part of her work to spot and shift unhelpful thinking. Mindfulness practices are used to help with stress, anxiety, and staying present.
Client-centered and psychodynamic ideas guide how she partners with people to understand patterns and strengths. Across 26 years as a therapist and clinical leader, Colleen has worked in schools, clinics, and independent practice settings.
She brings experience managing programs and supervising clinicians, while keeping sessions focused on the individual in front of her. Colleen values respect and diversity and aims to create a space where people feel heard.
Her approach blends empathy with clear guidance so clients can try new ways of coping and make steady progress.
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Colleen commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Client-Centered Therapy in her work. CBT involves identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors to reduce anxiety or depression, which works well for worry, insomnia, and mood struggles. Client-centered Therapy focuses on listening and reflecting so people feel understood and can find their own solutions, which helps with self-esteem, grief, and relationship concerns.Finding the right approach is part of the process. She collaborates with each person to decide which methods match their goals and preferences. Together they check in on what helps, adjust techniques, and set small, practical steps to try between sessions.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text sessions work well for brief check-ins or when typing feels easier. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, family life, or busy days while keeping the focus on clear, useful strategies.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does Colleen address?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What background and experience does she bring?
What are her credentials and where is she based?
Can I work with her if I live in another country?
What session formats are available?
How does billing and cost work?
How do I begin working with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 26 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English