About Poythress
Poythress Mitchell uses a practical, person-focused approach to help people facing stress, anxiety, addiction, grief, and relationship strain. She is a licensed professional counselor in Virginia with 27 years of experience. Sessions aim to be warm, straightforward, and focused on real goals that fit everyday life.
She blends client-centered listening with tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. That means she listens first, then helps people notice patterns in thinking and behavior.
Background and approach
Together they pick small, workable steps to reduce symptoms and improve day-to-day functioning. Her background includes work in residential settings, outpatient care, in-home services, case management, and addiction treatment. That range gives a practical sense of what helps when problems affect daily routines, parenting, or work life.
Poythress often works with concerns such as stress, anger, low self-esteem, depression, trauma and abuse, and substance use. She also offers support around grief, career questions, parenting challenges, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and issues related to adoption, blended families, aging, caregiving, and military service members and veterans. Clients can expect clear goal-setting, skill teaching, and ongoing support.
She describes her style as compassionate, direct, and nonjudgmental. The emphasis is on helping people make steady, practical changes that fit their lives.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on understanding each person’s concerns without judgment and building a trusting relationship that guides the work. It helps when someone needs a supportive space to talk through feelings and priorities.Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, teaches skills to notice unhelpful thoughts and change behaviors that keep problems going. It is useful for anxiety, depression, stress, and some mood concerns because it produces clear exercises and homework to practice between sessions.
Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, brings practical skills for managing intense emotions, improving relationships, and coping with crises. It emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness in day-to-day life.
Finding the right approach is part of the first sessions. The therapist collaborates with each person to pick methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. Plans can change over time as progress is made and new priorities emerge.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to get consistent care. Video calls let people work face to face from wherever they are able to be on camera. Phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text messaging allow steady check-ins, quick coping reminders, and ongoing support between longer sessions.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Anger management
Also listed
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Depression
- Grief
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 27 years
- Licensed
- Virginia
- Languages
- English