Kathleen Petrak , LCPC, LPC

Kathleen Petrak is a Texas-based licensed counselor with more than 20 years of clinical experience. She holds LCPC and LPC credentials, professional counseling licenses that reflect formal training and state authorization to practice. Across community mental health settings, a pain management clinic, and many years in private practice, she has worked with people facing depression, anxiety, relationship and family difficulties, parenting challenges, career transitions, ADHD, and trauma-related concerns.

Her therapeutic stance is warm, respectful, and non-judgmental, prioritizing compassion and curiosity. She positions herself as a guide who asks thoughtful questions and supports clients in making their own decisions rather than directing outcomes. Clinically, her work is grounded in client-centered principles and integrates cognitive-behavioral techniques to provide practical tools alongside deeper emotional exploration. Treatment is collaborative and tailored to each person’s unique needs, goals, and circumstances.

Change can be difficult, and she acknowledges the effort it requires while focusing on the potential rewards of growth and improved functioning. Kathleen aims to offer steady support and clear direction as clients navigate life transitions, relationship struggles, mood concerns, and trauma recovery.

How Kathleen's Approaches Translate to Online Therapy

Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes an empathetic, non-directive stance where the client’s perspective and goals lead the work. Online sessions using this approach focus on listening, validation, and helping clients explore their values and choices in a supportive space. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets thoughts and behaviors that contribute to distress and teaches concrete skills for managing anxiety, depression, stress, and day-to-day challenges. In virtual sessions CBT can include practical exercises, homework, and structured problem solving adapted to remote formats. Trauma-Focused Therapy attends to the ways past hurts affect present functioning, using techniques to process emotions and build coping strategies; online delivery can allow a gradual pace and integration of stabilizing skills before deeper processing.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and the therapist works collaboratively with each person to identify which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences. That partnership guides how techniques are combined and paced throughout care.

Online therapy offers flexibility in how people connect - video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging - making it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, maintain continuity during life transitions, and access licensed professionals from different locations.