Loading older messages… Tch Um. I need like an example Sure, lemme think of a good one... Say a client tells you, "She keeps saying it's not that bad because he never actually stops her from seeing her friends. But every time she makes plans, he gets cold or irritated or finds a problem. So she cancels plans just to keep the peace. Now she's saying, "Maybe I am selfish." In that exact moment, what would you say first? Just the first sentence or two. Create a pdf document detailed the rest of this Yes. I made a detailed continuation document focused on everything you just explained about controlling and abusive relationships, including: autonomy as the main thing you are assessing requests vs control subtle vs overt consequences the Target/money example how you assess whether choices still feel like the client’s understanding a partner’s anxiety without excusing the behavior not telling someone to stay or leave safety accommodations vs teaching someone to be more palatable self-esteem erosion the “moving goalpost” / soothing-the-abuser loop how this maps onto your broader framework what belongs on the eventual client page what is potentially useful for trainings the next questions we should ask you when we continue I kept your strongest phrases in quotation marks and labeled my own organizing/synthesis separately. How_I_Work_Controlling_Relationships_Expansion.pdf PDF Pasted text(20261012-203121).txt Document can you quickly replace the blurbs and just the blurbs with the specialty new text Worked for 58s Done. I replaced only the finalized specialty blurb text for OCD, anxiety, ADHD, autism, and trauma. I left Complicated Relationships and Couples Therapy unchanged because those newer blurbs aren’t finalized yet. Evolve_homepage_specialty_blurbs_updated.txt Document omg fix the autism one the ending. get the with our without adhd i dont do autism assessments it looks so silly on there Yes lol, that last line looked way too administrative and clunky sitting under the actual autism copy. I removed it completely. The autism section now ends on: Whatever you need, I'll think it's the most reasonable thing in the world, and we'll figure out what actually works for you. Much cleaner. Evolve_homepage_specialty_blurbs_updated_v2.txt Document

Therapy that actually goes somewhere.

Therapy for adults & couples · San Jose & throughout California

Book a free 20-minute call

Katie Robey, LCSW #126045 · Neurodivergent-affirming · LGBTQ+ affirming · Sessions by telehealth

You might know exactly what’s going on, or have no idea yet. Either way, we start there.

Progress can be surprisingly ordinary: a little less of your day spent on what’s bothering you, and a little more on everything else.

Katie Robey, LCSW, therapist and founder of Evolve Talk Therapy

Hi, I’m Katie.

I have ADHD and OCD myself, so some of what I work with I also know from the inside.

I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the therapist behind Evolve Talk Therapy. I named it that on purpose. I think talk therapy can do more than talk.

I’m a social worker by training, which means I can’t look at a person without also looking at their life: the job, the family, the week they’re having.

I read a lot of research, mostly because I’m curious and I don’t think anyone is ever finished learning this work.

I love this job, and I take it seriously that people let me into their lives.

More about Katie

LCSW #126045 · Member, International OCD Foundation

The same behavior can come from very different places.

Putting off a phone call might be anxiety.

It might be ADHD.

It might be that you don’t want to talk to that person.

Each of those needs something different.

Challenging your thoughts can be useful. But if you already spend hours debating with your own mind, more analysis may just give you more to analyze.

And sometimes it isn’t in your head at all. It’s your job, your relationship, or the fact that three people depend on you.

Before we try anything, I want to understand what’s driving it. Then I ask questions, and you decide what to do.

We don’t have to make it more complicated than it is. We also don’t have to make it simpler.

What I specialize in

Therapy for adults and couples in San Jose and online throughout California.

OCD & Obsessive Thinking

OCD is sly. It whispers that one more check will keep everyone safe and make things feel right. But it always wants more: one more question, one more hour in your head, one more thing you stop doing.

What nobody sees is everything you've already pictured, over and over, in more detail than you'd ever say out loud. We don't have to unpack every single one.

It's not the thought that's the issue. It's how we respond to it. Over time, the thought can show up in the middle of dinner with people you love, and it doesn't take over the way it used to. You stay at the table.

ERP is the first-line treatment for OCD, and I build on it with I-CBT and ACT. Reassurance usually feeds OCD, even when it's well meant, and talk therapy that isn't OCD-specific can turn into more of it.

Explore OCD Therapy

Anxiety & Chronic Worry

Anxiety can take up far more of your life than anyone sees. You think through what could go wrong, watch your body for anything that feels off, and start avoiding things you used to do. Little by little, your life gets smaller.

In session, my questions aren't about making you prove every anxious thought is illogical. You may have thought it to death already, and it still hasn't helped.

I'm trying to figure out what actually needs to change and what doesn't need another hour of your attention. Maybe the job really is the problem, or maybe the spiral about it is. Maybe panic has started deciding whether you get on a plane.

You might get on anyway, knowing you could panic. I'll tell you what I'm seeing, but I won't make the choice for you. I want you to have a choice before anxiety makes it for you.

Explore Anxiety Therapy

ADHD & Executive Functioning

You lost track of a deadline weeks ago, and now you can't make yourself check it, because it might already be too late, or close enough that you're in for the worst few days of your life.

You're sure you've become a burden to the people who love you, so you haven't told anyone. You can tell me, and we'll just let it be for a second.

Then you check that deadline with me right there in session, and finally face it. Eventually, you can relax on the couch without the heaviness of everything you've been ignoring, and actually enjoy it.

You don't need a diagnosis to start, and I can diagnose ADHD if you'd like a diagnosis.

Explore ADHD Therapy

Autism & Neurodivergence

The world has already decided what it means to be autistic, and it can be hard not to start seeing yourself through that lens. Maybe you've spent years masking and dimming parts of yourself just to make everyone else more comfortable.

Some parts of being autistic are genuinely hard. I'm not here to make you easier for other people to understand. Whatever you need, I'll think it's the most reasonable thing in the world, and we'll figure out what actually works for you.

Explore Autism Therapy

Complex Trauma

Some things are too ugly to look at, let alone say out loud. Others are so quiet, nothing like what you've seen on TV, that you're not sure they count. Embarrassing, shameful, infuriating. Maybe you've never told anyone. Or you did, and they got awkward, asked stupid questions, or tried to make it all better.

Whether it happened once or went on for years, you never have to tell me any of it. Just the feelings, or just that something bad happened, is enough. If you want to say more, I can hear it. I believe you. I won't ask questions that make it sound like your fault, or tell you what you should do now.

Some feelings are total opposites and make no sense at all. They don't have to.

I don't have a magic answer. We work on where it still shows up and what helps when it does. Living with it is a lot like living with grief. You might not forget, and you may still think about it every day. We figure out how it can be there without taking up every part of your life.

PTSD and complex PTSD, however it happened.

Explore Complex Trauma Therapy

Complicated Relationships

You can love someone and still not know what to do with the relationship.

Boundaries, loss, controlling relationships, emotional abuse, domestic violence, and decisions that don’t become easy just because you understand them. What you do about it is your call.

Explore Relationship Therapy

Couples Therapy

I don’t want to hand you another communication tool before we know why the others haven’t worked.

Couples therapy and marriage counseling for partners who keep ending up in the same place, including neurodiverse couples.

Explore Couples Therapy

Book a free 20-minute call

Therapy should have somewhere to go. That doesn’t mean we’re going there every second.

If we keep having the same conversation and nothing is changing outside of it, I’ll say so, and we’ll try something different.

Some weeks aren’t about changing anything. Something hard happened and you need to talk about it. You can spend the whole hour on that, and it doesn’t have to become a lesson.

What sessions are like

Pull up the text. Show me the picture. Tell me the side story. Come in with no idea what you want to talk about.

You can start anywhere, including in the middle. I’ll say back what I’m hearing so you can tell me whether I’ve got it. Sometimes I’ll say the part you left out. I’d rather we work with the true version than the tidy one, and it’s usually less shameful out loud than it was in your head.

Then I’ll tell you what I think, in plain language. You won’t get a lecture. You’ll get what it means for your Tuesday. After that I ask questions until you work out what you want to do. That part is yours.

We laugh a lot too.

I’ll remember your sister’s name and your boss’s worst habit, and eventually you can just say, “So, my mom called,” and I’ll know exactly what kind of week it’s been.

Start with a free 20-minute call.

A website can tell you a lot about a therapist. It can’t tell you what it will feel like to talk to one. That’s what the call is for.

Book a free 20-minute call

Before: You don’t need to prepare a polished explanation of yourself first.
On the call: Tell me what brought you here. I’ll ask some questions, tell you what I’m thinking, and answer yours.
After: There’s no pressure to schedule. If I’m not the right person, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.

$295: 60 minutes
$250: 45 minutes
Private pay: Superbills available for out-of-network reimbursement
Online: Sessions throughout California

For clinicians

Knowing a treatment model is not the same as knowing what to do with the person sitting in front of you.

For clinicians who want another set of eyes on a case.

Clinical Supervision · Professional Consultation · Training

Ask about clinician services