About Ina
Ina Thompson is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Virginia with 23 years of clinical experience. She meets people where they are and helps them tackle everyday struggles like anxiety, depression, stress, grief, and challenges tied to trauma or abuse. Ina speaks English and German and works with adults and young people across a wide range of concerns.
Her approach is practical and collaborative. She uses common-sense tools from cognitive behavioral techniques and acceptance strategies to help clients notice what matters and make small changes.
Background and approach
She also draws on attachment-aware ideas to address relationship patterns and emotional responses. Ina pays attention to life stage issues and specific stressors such as aging, caregiving strain, first responder stress, and the challenges of adoption or foster care. She also supports people dealing with attention differences, bipolar symptoms, eating and sleeping problems, and substance use struggles.
Conversations focus on clear goals and steps to feel steadier day to day. Sessions aim to be straightforward and respectful. Ina encourages people to name their priorities and builds work that fits into real life.
She emphasizes strengths and practical strategies, not labels or lofty theory. She offers several ways to connect, including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Getting started usually means answering a few questions and scheduling a first session so work can begin on the issues that matter most.
Approaches that translate well to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and motivation problems. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying patterns of thinking and behavior that keep problems going, then practicing different responses to reduce symptoms and improve daily functioning. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication, which can help with intense moods and impulse control.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That choice can shift over time as progress is made and priorities change.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow in-depth conversation and shared visual cues. Phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in fits the schedule. Live chat and text messaging make it easier to fit brief check-ins, homework, or support into busy days. These options aim to make therapy more flexible and easier to use alongside work, family, and other responsibilities.
Questions people ask
What kinds of problems does she help with?
What is her general therapy style?
How much professional experience does she have?
Where is she licensed and based?
Can sessions be held in languages other than English?
What session formats are available?
How are sessions priced?
What is the first step to begin therapy?
What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 23 years
- Licensed
- Virginia
- Languages
- English, German