Barbara Pettibone

Experienced LCSW blending practical and compassionate care

LCSW, CSW Colorado

Experience: 46 years in practice
Focus areas: Stress, Anxiety, Trauma and abuse, Grief
Approaches: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Attachment-Based Therapy
Languages: English

About Barbara

Barbara Pettibone is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW, CSW) based in Colorado with 46 years of experience in mental health care. She focuses on helping adults navigate stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and life transitions, along with concerns related to relationships, intimacy, parenting, career, and self-esteem.

Background and approach

Her practice also addresses a wide range of additional issues such as attachment and abandonment, chronic health challenges, caregiving stress, and mood conditions including bipolar and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Her clinical background includes work in inpatient psychiatric hospitals and outpatient settings, and she brings a warm, direct, and collaborative style to sessions.

She sees the client as the primary decision-maker in therapy and partners with them to clarify problems and set practical goals. Her approach blends cognitive behavioral techniques with attachment-informed and client-centered methods as well as tools from DBT and emotionally-focused work, drawing on interventions that fit each person’s needs.

Pettibone welcomes both local and international clients and offers flexible formats to accommodate different preferences. With extensive experience supporting seniors through aging-related changes, she also applies the same practical, compassionate orientation to adults at other life stages.

Approaches that translate well to online care

CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and patterns and testing new behaviors to reduce symptoms like anxiety, depression, and stress. It typically involves collaborative skill-building and practical exercises that adapt well to remote sessions.

Attachment-Based Therapy - This approach explores relational patterns formed over time and how they influence current relationships and emotional responses. It can be useful for issues such as intimacy challenges, abandonment concerns, and attachment difficulties, and it works through discussion and reflective exercises across different communication formats.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and the therapist partners with clients to determine the best fit based on their goals, needs, and preferences. Sessions may blend methods - for example combining CBT techniques with attachment-informed understanding - so the plan evolves collaboratively rather than being fixed up front.

Online therapy with this clinician is available by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, offering flexibility for varying schedules and comfort levels. These options make it possible to maintain continuity of care during life transitions, manage caregiving or mobility challenges, and access support from different locations. Licensed professionals can tailor tools and pacing to the chosen format so work can continue effectively even when in-person meetings are not possible.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns does she address?

She works with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship and intimacy issues, parenting and career concerns, and a range of other areas including bipolar disorder and chronic illness.

What is her therapeutic style like?

The approach is collaborative and practical, with an emphasis on the client setting goals while the therapist offers direct, warm, and supportive guidance.

How long has she practiced?

She has 46 years of experience in mental health, including work in both inpatient psychiatric hospitals and outpatient settings.

What credentials and location are listed?

She holds LCSW and CSW credentials and practices from Colorado; her credential notation is CO LCSW CSW.00001879.

Does she work with clients who are not in the United States?

Yes, she accepts international clients and offers services to people outside the U.S.

Which session formats are available?

Sessions can be conducted via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different preferences and schedules.

How are fees and billing handled?

Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.

What are the first steps to begin working together?

Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and scheduling according to therapist availability.

Areas of expertise

Primary focus

Stress, Anxiety Trauma and abuse Grief Depression Coping with life changes

Also works with

LGBTRelationship issuesFamily conflictsIntimacy-related issuesParenting issuesAnger managementSelf esteemCareer difficultiesBipolar disorderCoaching

Additional focus areas

AbandonmentAging and geriatric issuesAttachment issuesAvoidant personalityBlended family issuesBody imageCaregiver issues and stressChronic pain, illness, and disabilityCodependencyCommitment issuesCommunication problemsControl issuesCoping with natural or human-caused disasterDependent personalityDisruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)DissociationDivorce and separationEmptinessFamily of origin issuesFamily problemsFatherhood issuesFirst responder issuesForgivenessGuilt and shameHospice and end-of-life counselingImpulsivity Isolation / lonelinessJealousyLife purposeMidlife crisisVeteran and Armed Forces IssuesMood disordersMulticultural concernsNarcissismPanic disorder and panic attacksPersonality disordersPost-traumatic stressSeasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)Self-harmSelf-loveSocial anxiety and phobiaSomatizationWomen's issuesWorkplace issuesYoung adult issues

Therapeutic approaches

Attachment-Based TherapyClient-Centered TherapyCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)Existential TherapyJungian TherapyMindfulness TherapyPsychodynamic TherapySolution-Focused TherapySomatic TherapyTrauma-Focused TherapyInternal Family SystemsSystemic Therapy

Experience

46+ years

Licensed

Colorado

Languages

English