
Lawrence Matheny
Guiding change with experience and compassion
Start with Lawrence MathenyLicensed · Professional · Cancel Anytime


Guiding change with experience and compassion
Start with Lawrence MathenyLicensed · Professional · Cancel Anytime
Lawrence Matheny is a licensed counselor and marriage and family therapist practicing in Virginia. He brings 34 years of clinical experience to his work and is licensed in Virginia as a professional counselor and as a marriage and family therapist (VA LPC 0701002520; VA LMFT 0717000741).
He and his wife have been married for more than 40 years and are parents of two adult children and grandparents to one grandchild. Those personal ties to family life inform his work with couples, parents, and multigenerational concerns.
Throughout his career he spent more than three decades working in psychiatric hospitals and in community-based mental health and substance abuse settings. He has provided counseling to individuals, couples, and families addressing serious and persistent mental illnesses, depression, anxiety, substance use and addiction, marital and parenting challenges, religious questions, trauma, grief and loss, and related concerns.
His background in pastoral ministry spans over 40 years, including 16 years serving as an ordained minister. He holds a master’s degree in Counseling and a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry.
He has worked with people from a wide range of backgrounds and life situations: those of various faith traditions and those without faith, heterosexual and LGBTQIA clients, children, teens, adults, parents, grandparents, and people receiving hospice care and their families. He views clients as the experts of their own lives and focuses on helping them draw on their strengths to move from their current circumstances toward their goals. When faith has been important in a client’s life, he is comfortable integrating those resources into the work.
He believes meaningful change can begin in the therapy session. Helping clients make the changes they need is how he measures success, and he is committed to supporting clients as they work to feel better and reach their goals.
For many common concerns - such as stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, or navigating life transitions - online therapy has been shown to be just as effective as traditional in-person sessions. It can be a practical option for people seeking support for these types of issues.
A key benefit is flexibility. Clients can meet with therapists in the format that suits them best - video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or in-app messaging - which often makes it easier to fit counseling into a busy schedule. This range of options can help maintain continuity of care when in-person visits are difficult to arrange.
All participating therapists are licensed professionals, and clients may choose a different therapist at any time if they need a better fit. Online therapy offers an accessible way to work with qualified clinicians while retaining choices about how and when to connect.