Barbara Leigh

Barbara Leigh is a therapist in Alabama with 36 years of clinical experience, offering a balance of seasoned judgment, current relevance and flexible interventions. She tracks shifts in the fields of psychology and counseling and begins by identifying each client’s particular needs so treatment approaches can be tailored to their unique circumstances and expectations. She enjoys helping people clarify their needs and desires, pursue their potential and accomplish meaningful life goals.

Her clinical work focuses on stress and anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, neurodiversity including autism, ADHD and traumatic brain injury, sleep difficulties, self-esteem, coping with life changes, addictions, LGBT-related concerns, relationship and family issues, grief, eating concerns, anger, and compassion fatigue. She works with individuals of all ages and often partners with longer-term clients who are interested in sustained, life-growth work.

Barbara owns an autism consulting business and holds credentials that support both in-person and remote practice: she is a licensed professional counselor in South Carolina and in Oregon, serves as a clinical supervisor for Alabama, and is recognized as a Certified Autism Specialist, a board-certified provider of telemental health services, and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Her career spans many settings - inpatient, outpatient, day treatment, residential, in-home, private practice and virtual care. Her early pioneering work in online counseling in the 1990s, before mainstream search engines, was featured on Oprah’s network and in Glamour Magazine, reflecting a long-standing commitment to high standards in telehealth.

Her clinical approach draws primarily from cognitive-behavioral therapy, skill-building techniques from dialectical behavior therapy and neuroeducation - teaching how brain-body chemistry influences feelings, thoughts, behaviors and habits. She believes change happens when a person is ready; her role is to help clients become ready and to support them through the process. She emphasizes that people cannot directly change others but can change themselves, and that personal change contributes to broader positive effects over time.

Barbara aims to co-create treatment plans that are both realistic and appropriately challenging, balancing safety and risk, comfort and courage. Her clients say she is easy and even fun to work with because she blends compassion, practicality and humor. Change is difficult enough - she prefers to make it meaningful and enjoyable whenever possible. She looks forward to working with prospective clients and invites those ready to begin a process of growth to connect. Ready? Set....Grow!!