Ashley Hayes , LICSW

Ashley Hayes is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) with eight years of clinical social work experience, licensed to practice in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She brings focused clinical experience helping people navigate challenging life transitions, including coping with serious illness, managing anxiety and depression, and processing grief and loss. Her dual role as a recent cancer survivor and as a clinician working in an oncology clinic informs a whole-health perspective that attends to both emotional and physical aspects of well-being.

Ashley practices with a client-centered, strengths-based, and solution-focused orientation, supporting individuals to set realistic expectations and work toward personally meaningful goals. She places strong value on the therapeutic relationship and on helping clients develop the self-awareness needed to notice and alter less helpful patterns of thinking. To support that work she draws primarily from mindfulness practice, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), guiding clients to clarify their thoughts, reduce unhelpful mental noise, and take values-based action. Her approach emphasizes practical skills, compassionate listening, and collaborative planning to promote clearer thinking and more manageable daily functioning.

Evidence-Informed Approaches Delivered Remotely

Ashley integrates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and mindfulness practices into her remote work. ACT helps people clarify their values and take committed action toward what matters most, even when difficult thoughts or feelings are present, and can be useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. CBT focuses on identifying and reshaping unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors to reduce symptoms and improve functioning, which is often helpful for anxiety, mood concerns, and stress management. Mindfulness practice cultivates present-moment awareness and stress regulation skills that support coping with grief, chronic illness, and ongoing worry.

Ashley approaches treatment collaboratively, recognizing that finding the right therapeutic method is part of the process. She will work with each person to assess needs, preferences, and goals, and then tailor techniques from these approaches to fit the individual’s situation and priorities.

Online sessions can take place by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging, offering flexibility for those balancing work, caregiving, or medical appointments. Remote care makes it easier to maintain continuity during transitions or when in-person visits are difficult, and licensed professionals can adapt exercises and tools to work effectively across these formats.