About James
James Votaw is a licensed mental health counselor in Massachusetts with a Master of Arts in clinical mental health counseling. He has 18 years of experience working with adults in outpatient settings and as an emergency room crisis clinician. He speaks English and Japanese and uses several approaches to help people find practical ways forward.
He creates a calm space where clients can talk about what’s burdening them. He listens first to understand each person’s perspective.
Background and approach
From there he works collaboratively to set goals and try steps that can change thoughts and behavior. James often uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thinking and shift patterns that keep people stuck. He also draws on client-centered methods to follow each person’s pace and priorities.
Hypnotherapy and mindfulness tools are available for people who want those options. Many people come with anxiety, stress, trouble sleeping, low self-esteem, or depression. He also helps with grief, trauma and abuse, addiction concerns, anger, and career-related worry.
Additional focuses include control issues, guilt and shame, immigration-related stress, men’s issues, OCD patterns, phobias, and social anxiety. Sessions can be held by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. Costs vary with location and therapist availability and are managed through a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
To begin, clients use the Start Therapy button and complete a short matching questionnaire before scheduling.
Approaches and online options that work for you
James commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy and client-centered therapy in online sessions. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing small behavior changes to reduce anxiety, improve mood, and address sleep or compulsive patterns. Client-centered therapy prioritizes the person’s own experience and pacing, with the therapist listening, reflecting, and helping set goals that feel right.He also offers hypnotherapy and mindfulness tools when those fit a client’s goals. Hypnotherapy involves guided relaxation and focused attention to address habits, stress, or motivation. Mindfulness exercises teach simple attention practices to reduce reactivity and improve emotional balance. Deciding which approach to use is a collaborative process; the therapist will work with each person to choose methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences and will adjust as progress unfolds.
Online sessions are available by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make scheduling easier. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation for deeper exchanges, phone sessions can be quicker or need less bandwidth, live chat can suit short check-ins, and messaging is useful for ongoing contact between sessions. These options offer flexibility to fit therapy into work, family, or school routines.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Men's issues
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 18 years
- Licensed
- Massachusetts
- Languages
- English, Japanese