Kathleen Cates-Richardson, LMFT

Iowa · 16 years in practice

Kathleen Cates-Richardson is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 16 years of clinical experience.

License and registration

LMFT, Iowa: 000370 · expires September 2026
LMFT, Arizona: LMFT-16264 · expires December 2026
NPI: 1104062298 · national provider identifier
Years in practice: 16
Languages: English

Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.

About Kathleen

Kathleen Cates-Richardson is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 16 years of clinical experience. She offers a calm, nonjudgmental space where people can talk about anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, relationship strain, and intimacy-related concerns. Kathleen focuses on helping people take practical steps toward feeling steadier and more connected in their day-to-day lives.

She uses Emotionally-Focused Therapy to help people name and shift patterns in close relationships and emotional responses.

Background and approach

Kathleen also draws on client-centered and cognitive behavioral approaches to tailor sessions to each person’s needs. These methods are used together to address mood, sleeping trouble, and coping after difficult events. Her background includes work across different settings over 16 years, supporting people through grief, domestic violence recovery, and substance use challenges.

She has experience helping those affected by adoption and foster care, caregiver stress, and health-related life changes like cancer. Kathleen pays attention to how past loss and abandonment show up in current relationships. Sessions tend to focus on clear goals and practical tools.

Clients can expect conversational work that surfaces emotions, patterns, and small behavior changes they can try between sessions. Kathleen emphasizes collaboration and pacing the work to each person’s comfort and strengths. She practices in Iowa and is licensed as an LMFT in Iowa and Arizona.

Sessions are offered in English and are available through multiple online formats to fit different schedules.

Focus areas and approaches

Everything Kathleen lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.

Addictions
Relationship issues
Trauma and abuse
Intimacy-related issues
Depression
Sleeping disorders
Abandonment
Adoption and foster care
Aging and geriatric issues
Autism and Asperger Syndrome
Avoidant personality
Blended family issues
Body image
Cancer
Caregiver issues and stress
Communication problems
Control issues
Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
Divorce and separation
Domestic violence
Drug and alcohol addiction
Eating and food-related issues
Family of origin issues
Family problems
Fatherhood issues
Fertility issues
First responder issues
Forgiveness
Gender dysphoria
Guilt and shame
Hoarding
Impulsivity
Infidelity
Isolation / loneliness
Life purpose
Men's issues
Midlife crisis
Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Mood disorders
Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
Panic disorder and panic attacks
Phobias
Postpartum depression
Post-traumatic stress
Pregnancy and childbirth
Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Self-harm
Sex addiction
Sexual dysfunction
Social anxiety and phobia
Trichotillomania
Women's issues
Workplace issues
Young adult issues

Approaches Kathleen names

Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.

Online support

How EFT and Practical Therapies Work Online

Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps people identify emotional patterns and shift how they respond in close relationships. It often focuses on feelings and how they drive connection or distance. Client-centered therapy centers the person’s experience, offering empathic listening and space to make sense of thoughts and feelings. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and offers concrete strategies to change unhelpful patterns.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Kathleen will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and pace. That might mean using emotionally-focused conversation to open painful topics, then practicing CBT techniques between sessions to manage mood or sleep. The plan is adapted as progress is made.

Online sessions allow the same therapeutic approaches to happen in flexible formats. Video calls are useful for deeper conversational work and reading nonverbal cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging work well for shorter check-ins, homework support, or staying connected between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to try different formats to see what helps most.

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Questions people ask

What concerns does Kathleen commonly address?

She helps people with addictions, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related problems, depression, and sleeping difficulties.

How would you describe her therapeutic style?

Her style blends emotionally-focused work with client-centered conversation and practical cognitive-behavioral tools to change unhelpful patterns.

What is her clinical experience?

She has 16 years of professional work experience supporting people through grief, domestic violence recovery, substance use, and other life challenges.

What credentials and location apply to her practice?

She is an LMFT licensed in Iowa and Arizona and currently practices in Iowa.

Which languages are supported and can she work with people outside the U.S.?

Sessions are offered in English and she accepts international clients.

What session formats does she offer?

She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.

How are sessions priced?

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

What steps do I take to begin working with her?

Select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.

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