Lori Brinkley, LCSW

Lori Brinkley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 25 years of clinical experience supporting people through trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship challenges, and major life transitions. She blends practical tools with a warm, straightforward style that encourages growth while challenging unhelpful patterns. Lori works with a wide range of concerns including parenting and co-parenting after divorce, adoption and foster care issues, caregiver stress, compassion fatigue, grief, intimacy and sexual concerns, eating and body image struggles, anger and impulsivity, and the complicated dynamics of blended families and family-of-origin issues.

She offers specialized support for first responders, adoptees, adult children of alcoholics, and people facing post partum stress and depression, as well as a unique service she calls "couple's counseling for one" where she helps a willing partner build tools, set boundaries, and improve communication even when their partner is not participating in therapy. Lori relies heavily on cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness, and she also uses client-centered and solution-focused methods to tailor care to each person she sees.

Known for combining directness with empathy and a sense of humor, Lori aims to make therapy engaging and practical. Outside of work she is a mother of two college-aged children who enjoys the outdoors, especially the beach, waterfall hunting, reading suspense novels, and travel. She brings curiosity and a strengths-based focus to help people identify new perspectives, meet their goals, and cultivate more joy in everyday life.

Approaches Lori Uses in Online Therapy

Lori integrates cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness into online work to help clients address unhelpful thinking patterns and build practical skills. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying and changing thoughts and behaviors that contribute to stress, anxiety, or depression, and it is useful for problem-solving and mood management. Mindfulness therapy teaches present-moment awareness and stress-reduction techniques that can help with emotional regulation, grounding after trauma, and reducing rumination.

She also uses client-centered therapy, which emphasizes empathy, listening, and collaboration so the client feels heard and supported while exploring goals. Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the therapeutic process; Lori works together with each person to determine which methods best fit their needs, goals, and preferences in a collaborative way.

Online sessions offer flexible options including video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, making it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule or access support from different locations within North Carolina. These formats allow Lori to deliver consistent care, reinforce skills between sessions, and adapt how sessions are conducted based on what works best for each client.