Ashley Hayes, LICSW

Ashley Hayes is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) practicing in Rhode Island. She focuses on stress, anxiety, grief, coping with life changes, depression, and related concerns. Ashley also lists aging and geriatric issues among her areas of focus. Her approach is down-to-earth and goal-oriented.

Ashley draws on eight years of clinical social work experience, including work in oncology settings and personal experience as a cancer survivor. That background informs how she talks about the links between physical health and emotional well-being. She often helps people facing serious illness, caregiving strain, end-of-life decisions, and the grief that follows major loss.

Sessions concentrate on practical steps clients can use between meetings. She uses mindfulness practices to calm racing thoughts and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to spot and change less helpful thought patterns. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ideas are also woven in to help people act in line with their values even when feelings are hard.

Ashley centers the relationship in her work and keeps the tone collaborative. She helps people set realistic goals and small, achievable steps toward them. Her style is strengths-based and solution focused, with attention to clarity of thought rather than jargon.

People who come to her often want help with sleep problems, parenting stress, compassion fatigue, attachment issues, trauma, or anxiety like panic attacks. She also addresses caregiver stress, hospice and end-of-life counseling, veteran and first responder issues, and multicultural concerns.

How her approaches translate to online care

Ashley commonly draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy alongside client-centered work. CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns and routines, which can reduce symptoms like anxiety, panic, and low mood. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy emphasizes noticing thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them and taking values-based action even when emotions are strong. Client-centered work emphasizes listening, validation, and helping people hear themselves more clearly.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Ashley aims to learn about a person’s goals, daily life, and preferences and then recommends practices and tools that fit. She adjusts methods as needed so the plan matches what a person actually wants to change.

Session formats are not listed in the provided biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online care can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life - for example it may reduce travel time, allow shorter check-ins, or let someone join from a quieter spot without needing a long commute. Therapists can guide which methods will work well in remote sessions and which exercises to practice between meetings to keep progress moving.