Brenda Atkinson, LCSW, CSW
Licensed in Georgia · 31 years in practice
Brenda Atkinson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 31 years of experience.
License and registration
- LCSW, Georgia
- CSW004649 · expires September 2026
- LCSW, Virginia
- 0904015906 · expires June 2026
- NPI
- 1083070304 · national provider identifier
- Years in practice
- 31
- Languages
- English
Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check any license with the state board and any NPI with the national registry.
About Brenda
Brenda Atkinson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 31 years of experience. She practices in Virginia and focuses on helping people manage mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, grief, and relationship and parenting concerns. Brenda aims to make therapy straightforward and focused on the issues that brought someone in.
Brenda’s background includes education in psychology and social work from the University of Louisville, with emphasis on family systems theory. She draws on that foundation to notice patterns in how people relate to others and to themselves.
Background and approach
She uses practical tools to address thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Her style blends a warm, genuine presence with structured techniques. Sessions often include skill teaching from cognitive behavioral therapy and emotion-focused work to help people name and shift difficult feelings.
She also uses attachment-based ideas to look at relationship patterns and Dialectical Behavior Therapy strategies for managing intense emotions. Brenda often supports people through life changes like early adulthood, midlife shifts, and later-life transitions. She works with concerns that range from addiction and bipolar mood symptoms to grief, parenting stress, and compassion fatigue.
She notices both immediate problems and longer-term patterns that affect daily life. People who choose Brenda usually want a therapist who listens, offers clear tools, and helps them build emotional awareness. Her goal is to partner with clients so they leave sessions with practical steps they can try between meetings.
Focus areas and approaches
Everything Brenda 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
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Compassion fatigue
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Brenda names
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
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
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Attachment-based work looks at how early bonds shape current relationships. In sessions that focus on attachment, the therapist helps clients notice patterns in how they connect, withdraw, or respond when they feel threatened, which can help with intimacy and communication challenges.Client-centered therapy centers on listening and respecting each person's pace. The therapist provides a supportive, nonjudgmental space where clients set goals and the therapist follows their lead to build insight and self-direction.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, gives clear, practical tools to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It often involves setting small experiments or behavior changes between sessions to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Brenda will work with each person to match techniques to their needs, goals, and preferences. This means trying methods, checking what helps, and adjusting the plan together as work progresses.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to meet when life is busy. Video calls let people use visual cues and develop rapport. Phone sessions require less bandwidth and can be a good option for a focused check-in. Live chat or text-based messaging works well for brief updates, coping reminders, or shorter check-ins between longer sessions. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or other routines.
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Questions people ask
What concerns does Brenda commonly address?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, grief, addictions, relationship and intimacy-related issues, and parenting concerns.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
Her approach is warm and direct, combining client-centered listening with structured techniques like cognitive behavioral work and emotion-focused methods.
How much experience does she have?
Brenda has 31 years of experience working in social work and psychotherapy across a variety of mood and life-transition issues.
What credentials and location are listed?
She holds LCSW and CSW credentials and practices in Virginia.
Which languages are supported in sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
Therapy can take place by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging.
How does cost work for sessions?
Cost varies by location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with Brenda?
Start by clicking the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
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