Catherine Ware, PhD (VA)

Areas of expertise:

  • Military populations

  • Sleep difficulties & insomnia

  • Anxiety, including performance anxiety

  • Work-related stress

  • Chronic pain & chronic illness

  • Life transitions

  • Grief & loss

  • Trauma & PTSD, including moral injury

  • Targeted coaching (life, leadership, performance optimization)

Approach:

I primarily integrate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. I also use motivational interviewing to help clarify what drives your desire for change. Each approach offers powerful tools for growth and healing, most effective when thoughtfully tailored to you.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

-Often attributed to Viktor Frankl

Who I help:

I work with adults navigating a range of mental health challenges, as well as those seeking coaching to enhance their performance in life, work, or leadership roles. My clinical and coaching experience is rooted in serving military populations—both in outpatient settings and directly within Air Force aviation units. I’ve supported individuals confronting mental health concerns and provided leadership and performance coaching in high-stakes, mission-critical environments such as military aviation.

Demanding roles like these often disrupt sleep, and as a therapist, I’m especially passionate about helping people reclaim restorative rest, despite the challenge. Without quality sleep, we simply aren’t at our best—physically, emotionally, or mentally.

I also have experience supporting individuals healing from trauma, including moral injury tied to military contexts. Beyond that, I care deeply about helping those living with chronic pain or illness, and those moving through seasons of grief and loss. These experiences can erode our joy, sense of connection, and even our sense of purpose. If this resonates with you, I’m here to walk alongside you—helping you live authentically and stay anchored to what matters most, even in the midst of pain or heartache.

In coaching, I work with leaders stepping into new roles or challenges who want to deepen self-awareness and enhance personal and professional effectiveness. I also partner with individuals seeking to build new habits of thought or behavior—aligning life with their core values and thriving in their most important roles. If you’re looking for strategies to grow and make meaningful changes, but without a specific focus on emotional healing, coaching may be a great fit.

How I help:

In both therapy and coaching, I believe meaningful change begins with a trusting relationship. I’ll take time to understand your story—exploring the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Together, we’ll clarify why change matters to you and identify the areas you’d like to grow. From there, we’ll create a tailored roadmap to help you move forward.

In clinical work, I draw on a range of evidence-based therapies, adapting them to fit your unique needs. Along the way, we might work through unhelpful thought patterns, process painful memories, build tools to manage anxiety, or develop new habits that better serve you. Each step is designed to close the distance between how life feels now and how you hope it can be.

In coaching, particularly for leadership or performance optimization, I often start with an assessment—either to help you assess emotional intelligence skills relevant in leadership contexts, or to help you understand and most effectively apply your personality traits to your current or future work and leadership context. With greater awareness as a jumping off point, we embark on a collaborative process tailored to optimize performance and meet your professional goals.

Therapy or coaching? Therapy focuses on healing and resolving distress that disrupts daily life—moving you from a “low point” back to “functioning.” Coaching starts from “functioning” and helps you optimize—going from “good” to “great.” Learn more about coaching here.

Whether in therapy or coaching, we’ll work side by side, as partners on the same team.

What my clients say about working with me:

Clients often tell me they quickly feel a sense of trust and connection—comfortable enough to open up about things they haven’t shared elsewhere. They describe feeling safe to be vulnerable, to process painful memories, or to explore difficult emotions, knowing I’m right there with them.

Off the clock:

Outside of work, you’ll often find me on the running trails, mowing the lawn, tending the vegetable garden with my husband, planning the next trip to see my nieces and nephews, or building new friendships in our community.

  • PhD in Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

  • Master of Psychology, University of the Rockies

  • Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering, United States Air Force Academy

Education:

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)

  • Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

  • Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)

  • Aeromedical Psychology

  • Assessments for coaching:

    • Emotional Intelligence (EQi 2.0)

    • Hogan Personality Assessment

    • NEO Personality Inventory (based on Five-Factor Personality Model)

Special Training:

Licensure:

  • Virtual (Virginia)

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Virginia

Location:

interested in working with Catherine?