I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) specializing in integrative, evidence-based approaches like ACT, CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and solution-focused therapy. My work centers on empowering individuals, couples, and families to navigate relational challenges, emotional distress, and life transitions with clarity and resilience. I support clients facing communication breakdowns or conflict, families navigating parenting struggles or generational cycles, and individuals grappling with addiction, anxiety, relationship patterns, or self-doubt. My clients often seek to move beyond survival mode—to heal wounds, rebuild trust, and cultivate deeper connections. By blending practical skills with compassionate exploration, I guide clients to break free from unhelpful patterns, strengthen emotional agility, and align their actions with their values. Together, we foster healthier communication, self-compassion, and relational harmony, empowering them to create lasting, meaningful change in their lives and relationships.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
We’ll start with a warm welcome to ensure you feel informed and comfortable. This is a judgment-free zone—you’ll never be pushed to share more than you’re ready for. I’ll ask questions to understand your struggles, goals, and vision of success, focusing on your strengths and the patterns you want to shift. Together, we’ll map out a roadmap for therapy, identifying 1-2 actionable goals to begin with. You don’t need to perform or have insights figured out; my role is to guide, not judge. By the end, you’ll leave with clarity on how therapy can help and a small, practical tool to try (e.g., a reflection question or grounding exercise). We’ll also discuss next steps and ensure we’re a good fit. Your peace of mind matters: No forced “digging,” total confidentiality, and pacing that respects your needs. This session is about building trust, hope, and a clear path forward—no pressure to “fix” anything yet.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
As a therapist, my greatest strength lies in blending evidence-based tools like ACT, CBT, and mindfulness with warmth and adaptability, ensuring strategies align with your unique needs—never a one-size-fits-all approach. I integrate relational, systemic, and trauma-informed frameworks to address both individual struggles and family dynamics, whether navigating betrayal, parenting clashes, addiction, depression or anxiety. My focus is empowerment, not pathology: I see your resilience first, helping you build a life aligned with your values, not just “fix” symptoms. With cultural humility, I honor your identity, background, and beliefs, creating a space where your voice guides the work. What sets me apart is my ability to pivot between modalities—like mindfulness for emotional reactivity or solution-focused techniques for communication—while balancing compassionate support with gentle accountability. Having navigated my own healing journey, I bring lived experience to sessions; this isn’t textbook therapy, but real, relatable growth. I believe deeply in your capacity to grow, even when progress feels slow, and my role is to help you uncover the resilience you’ve always had. Therapy with me is about bridging the gap between where you are and where you want to be—using practical tools, empathy, and unwavering respect for your pace. Together, we’ll move beyond venting to doing differently, fostering purposeful action and self-compassion. You deserve a therapist who sees your wholeness, not just your struggles, and I’m here to help you nurture the seeds of change already within you.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
You’re someone who’s tired of repeating the same arguments, feeling stuck in cycles of anxiety, depression, addiction or resentment, or watching disconnection grow in your relationships. You crave deeper bonds—whether with a partner, family, or yourself—but feel derailed by old patterns, overwhelming emotions, or communication that misses the mark. You want a more meaningful and purpose driven life. You’re ready to do the work, not just vent. You value growth over blame, curiosity over defensiveness, and want practical tools—not just theories—to create change. You might be a couple rebuilding after betrayal, parents navigating clashes with a defiant teen, or an individual longing to break free from self-criticism, addiction, or negative beliefs and show up more authentically in relationships.
About Riley Collins
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
I help clients cultivate psychological flexibility by guiding them to embrace difficult emotions (acceptance), detach from unhelpful thoughts (defusion), and stay present during relational challenges. I clarify their core values (e.g., connection, respect) and align actions with those values, even amid discomfort—such as improving communication in a strained marriage or resolving parent-child conflicts. Through mindfulness, metaphors, and small behavioral steps, I empower couples and families to move toward meaningful, value-driven relationships rather than avoiding pain or clinging to rigid narratives.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I help clients identify and challenge unhelpful thought patterns that fuel relational distress. I teach skills like cognitive restructuring to reframe negative interpretations into balanced perspectives, such as exploring evidence for and against a belief. I assign behavioral experiments or communication exercises to shift unproductive cycles, and collaborate with families to develop problem-solving strategies tailored to their goals. By focusing on the interplay between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, I empower clients to break conflict loops, build coping skills, and create healthier relational dynamics.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I teach clients mindfulness skills to observe emotions nonjudgmentally in relationships, such as pausing reactive arguments to "notice and describe" feelings. I integrate distress tolerance strategies to help individuals navigate high-conflict moments without escalating. I focus on emotion regulation tools to reduce volatility and interpersonal effectiveness exercises to strengthen assertive communication and boundaries. By blending acceptance with skill-building, I empower clients to balance validation and change in their relational patterns, often incorporating phone coaching for real-time support during crises.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I guide clients in cultivating present-moment awareness through practices like meditation, body scans, and breathwork, helping them observe thoughts and emotions nonjudgmentally. I integrate mindfulness into relational dynamics—for example, teaching couples to pause and ground themselves during heated conflicts or families to practice mindful listening to deepen understanding. By fostering self-compassion and reducing emotional reactivity, I empower clients to break automatic patterns, respond intentionally instead of impulsively, and nurture calmer, more attuned connections. This approach emphasizes slowing down, noticing triggers, and anchoring in the "here and now" to strengthen relationships and individual well-being.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
I focus on clients’ strengths and desired outcomes by asking future-oriented questions. I collaborate with couples or families to identify exceptions—times when the issue isn’t happening—and amplify those successes . Through scaling questions , I help clients pinpoint actionable steps to build momentum. By steering conversations away from blame and toward pragmatic solutions, I empower clients to harness their existing resources and move toward their vision of a thriving relationships, successful outcomes, or family dynamic.