Annette Rios-Barrera, LCSW

Annette Rios-Barrera is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in Texas with 23 years of experience. She uses straightforward, compassionate care to help people who are feeling overwhelmed by loss, anxiety, or big life shifts. Her approach centers on listening, steady support, and practical steps people can try between sessions.

Annette focuses on relationships and living with health challenges among other concerns. She often works with people processing grief, identity questions, and stress related to caregiving, chronic illness, or major life changes. She also supports those navigating intimacy, attachment, and body image issues.

In sessions she blends evidence-informed methods with a warm, down-to-earth style. Conversations are aimed at building emotional safety, noticing patterns, and finding actions that match a person’s values. She uses tools from cognitive behavioral approaches and acceptance-based work to help manage difficult thoughts and emotions.

She also brings attention to relational healing and attachment issues, helping people rebuild trust and improve connection where it matters. When helpful, she incorporates mindfulness and movement-based practices to shift mood and increase resilience.

Annette offers services in English and Spanish and accepts international clients. To start, people complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule according to therapist availability. Sessions are arranged through the site’s Start Therapy process and use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.

How her approaches guide online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice painful thoughts without getting stuck in them and choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with chronic health challenges. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on patterns in close relationships and helps people strengthen trust and connection by exploring relational histories and current interactions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit best based on goals, comfort, and what’s happening in their life. That means trying a few techniques and adjusting as needed rather than committing to a single path up front.

The biography does not list specific online formats, so confirm session options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit care into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also make regular follow-ups simpler during periods of illness or caregiving, and it lets people join from different locations when travel is difficult.