About Joy
Joy Close is a licensed clinical social worker with 28 years of experience who helps adults facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and life transitions. She speaks plainly and listens closely so people feel heard while they talk through their concerns. Her work often addresses ADHD, relationship and intimacy issues, and challenges tied to identity and sexuality.
Joy keeps sessions collaborative and straightforward. She uses a range of approaches to meet each person where they are.
Background and approach
In practice that looks like learning new coping skills, trying short exercises in session, and setting small, concrete goals between meetings. Her background includes long experience with LGBTQ concerns and multicultural issues. She also supports people dealing with chronic illness, caregiving stress, trauma and post-traumatic stress, and career or purpose questions.
Joy describes her stance as affirming, anti-racist, anti-sexist, and sex positive. Clients can expect a personalized plan rather than a one-size-fits-all protocol. Joy draws on mindfulness and acceptance strategies to reduce distress, and on client-centered and psychodynamic ideas to understand patterns and relationships.
Solution-focused techniques help keep work practical and goal-directed. She practices from North Carolina and conducts sessions using several online formats. People who reach out typically complete a short matching questionnaire and then schedule sessions that fit their routine.
How her therapeutic approaches translate online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on what matters most to a person and teaches simple skills to act in line with those values despite difficult thoughts or feelings. It can help with anxiety, depression, ADHD-related challenges, and life transitions by clarifying priorities and building willingness to take small action steps. Client-Centered Therapy centers on listening and reflecting so clients feel understood; this approach helps people explore identity, relationships, and self-esteem at their own pace.Finding the right approach is part of therapy. Joy works collaboratively with clients to test methods and pick what fits each person’s goals and comfort. She may mix mindfulness, acceptance, and solution-focused techniques so work stays practical and relevant to daily life.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and hands-on guidance for exercises. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit a break at work. Live chat and text-based messaging make brief check-ins and homework easier between longer sessions. These options make it simpler to maintain continuity of care while balancing work, family, and other responsibilities.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 28 years
- Licensed
- North Carolina
- Languages
- English
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