Joanne Waithaka
Practical family and relationship therapy
- Credentials
- LMFT
- Experience
- 28 years
- Licensed in
- Virginia, Massachusetts, North Carolina
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Joanne
Joanne Waithaka is a licensed marriage and family therapist who focuses on relationship and family concerns, parenting, coping with life changes, coaching, trauma and abuse, and depression. She brings 28 years of clinical experience to sessions and works from Virginia. Joanne uses straightforward, practical conversation to help people manage difficult moments and make clearer choices for their families and relationships.
She pays attention to how family history and current patterns affect day-to-day life.
Background and approach
In sessions she listens, asks concrete questions, and helps clients notice what is working and what they might change. The goal is to make small shifts that matter at home and in other important relationships. Joanne draws on methods such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Systemic Therapy.
That mix allows her to offer short-term problem solving as well as deeper work about identity, meaning, and family roles. She adapts her approach to each person’s situation and goals. Her background includes work with issues like abandonment, adoption and foster care, aging and geriatric concerns, attachment and blended family difficulties, communication problems, infidelity, divorce and separation, and immigration-related stress.
Joanne also supports people facing guilt, shame, midlife transitions, and challenges related to veteran and armed forces experiences. Sessions move at a practical pace. Joanne helps clients set clear goals and tracks progress together.
She aims to make therapy useful, approachable, and relevant to everyday life.
Therapeutic approaches and online access
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, and then commit to actions that align with personal values. Narrative Therapy looks at the stories people tell about themselves and their families, helping to separate a person from a problem and rewrite limiting narratives. Solution-Focused Therapy concentrates on practical steps and strengths to move past specific problems and build immediate progress.Deciding which approach fits best is part of the work. Joanne collaborates with clients to match methods to their goals, preferences, and the issues they bring. She will discuss options, try approaches, and adjust based on what helps most in sessions.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules and to maintain continuity through life changes. The range of formats allows clients to choose the way of communicating that feels most comfortable and practical for their family and daily life.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.
Narrative Therapy
Looking at the story you have come to tell about yourself, and where it came from. The work is in separating the problem from your identity and finding accounts that fit you better.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Rather than examining the problem at length, this looks at what is already working and builds on it. Sessions tend to be practical and forward-looking, with small achievable steps, which translates readily to shorter online conversations.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Parenting issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Infidelity
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 28 years
- Licensed
- Virginia, Massachusetts, North Carolina
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Joanne
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point