01 · Who Barbara works with

Barbara works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and family conflicts

Barbara lists 14 specialisms and 20 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Barbara chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Barbara's own words

What Barbara says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Hello, my name is Barbara and welcome. If you are experiencing tension, stress, depression, anxiety, self-image issues, co-dependency issues, other effects of trauma, or trouble in your relationship or relationships, or feeling rejection, abandoned, disappointed, hopeless, shame, breach of trust and many other feelings, or you are looking for perspective, a good listener, and/or a nonjudgmental, approachable atmosphere to share your pain and gain some insight into your story, you are not alone. Over the years we accumulate various life experiences, acquire patterns and behaviors, and then develop certain ways of looking at ourselves and others. Most issues that people bring to me are an exploration and healing of relationship trauma or disruption of connection with a significant other or people in their lives. I like to think of myself as a therapist who disassembles people’s narratives, experiences, and emotions and then help them put them back together in a way that feels better in order to improve lives and find hope during difficult times. You have taken a huge step towards finding tools to deal with the issues that you are struggling with. I know that beginning therapy can sometimes be hard, but it is often an act of courage, hope, self-care, and self-determination. If this is your first-time seeking therapy, or even if it is not, you might be nervous, or you might have some apprehension. I just want to assure you that this is normal.

MY PHILOSOPHY: I believe that therapy should be a safe, comfortable place where you should feel heard, validated, and accepted as you are so that you can be honest about what is troubling you. It should be a place where you feel understood and feel comfortable to work out unwanted feelings and behaviors. I also believe that therapy should address physical, spiritual, psychological, and relational aspects. Because of this, my treatment plan for each client is unique and is designed specifically for each individual needs. I am committed to providing services that help reduce the stressful symptoms that led to you seeking out therapy, whether these challenges are recent challenges or longstanding challenges, whether you are looking to improve your relationships with your significant other or others, whether you are searching for strategies to improve your mood and manage depression, or increase your self-worth, or increase positive coping skills for anxiety, or identify triggers and replacement behaviors, or even strategies to cope with difficult emotions or understanding and processing traumatic experiences. My goal is not to get you to who you were before the issues started, but to integrate the lessons learned and expand your ability to experience a deeper connection with yourself, partners and other.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY ABOUT ME: I am a great listener, very insightful, genuine, welcoming, honest, compassionate, empathetic, and approachable. I have a nurturing and gentle approach in helping you set your goals and achieve them. I have spent a lot of time learning about issues that bring people to therapy. I use practical tools that are helpful in resolving conflict, improving communication, and finding solutions. I partner with you to create trusting relationships through honest interactions. Most of all we have fun! There are difficult parts of therapy, but we laugh too.

WHY I LOVE WORKING AS A THERAPIST: I understand how debilitating some of the life experiences can be and how they can keep us from living life to the fullest. I put a lot of dedication into learning different practice models so that I can help you feel less alone, help you heal and celebrate finding strength and knowledge to become a survivor, help you gain perspective about life’s stressors and disappointments, take control of your life, overcome poor self-image, establish a healthy feeling of hope and faith, help you learn to see your family or relationships as a team and not a burden, help you become less resentful and be yourself again. I consider it a blessing and honor to walk with you through these trying times. I am very relatable, and clients feel understood when they work with me and so can talk freely.

EXPERIENCE: I have been a social worker for 20 years in various settings. This has ranged from working in mental health settings, to family sessions, child welfare, school setting, working with individuals struggling to start or keep relationships, people adjusting to parenthood, people coping with infidelity, same-sex couples, depression, anxiety, self-esteem issues, life transitions, trauma, or substance abuse. My experience has taught me that we all experience things in our lives that may impact our lives in different ways and bring us to a crossroad where we get stagnant because we are not sure which direction to take. With a little help and assistance from people who are genuine, empathetic, and accepting we begin to experience a deeper connection with ourselves, our partners, and others. We all have inner strengths that help us through life, and I believe that many people can grow and build on those strengths through encouragement and empowerment. My goal is to work collaboratively with you to identify strengths, patterns, coping skills, discover practical solutions and tools to help you make positive changes in your life.

MY COUNSELING STYLE: My counseling style is very client-centered, interactive, empathetic, warm, strength based and holistic. I focus on building a safe, non-judgmental environment utilizing a multi-dimensional approach that not only explores your thoughts, your emotions, and behaviors as they relate to different situations in your life, but also explores solutions with the goal of enhancing your ability to achieve stability and growth. The direction we take is determined by your individual needs but there are different theoretical approaches that I draw from. I incorporate evidence-based techniques such as emotionally Focused Therapy, Strength-based therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Problem Solving therapy, Cognitive Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy as well as Narrative Therapy.

EDUCATION: University of Denver: Master’s degree in social work. Certificates: Family engagement, Family sensitivity, positive behavior supports, strengthening resiliency, system values, trauma informed practice, cultural competency, grief and loss counseling. I have over 20 years of experience helping adults, families, youth and couples dealing with anxiety, relationship issues, intimacy-related issues, parenting issues, family issues, grief, loss, addiction, adjustment issues, abuse, anger-management, trauma, career difficulties, as well as self-esteem issues.

LICENSE INFORMATION: I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Colorado: CSW# 09926714

I look forward to working with you.

Barbara Mutagamba, on the BetterHelp listing · read 5 Nov 2026

03 · How Barbara works

The 13 approaches Barbara lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Barbara lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Barbara's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Barbara runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT

A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.

Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT

Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.

The Gottman Method

A couples approach built on decades of observational research into what distinguishes relationships that last. Structured and assessment-led: it maps friendship, conflict and shared meaning, then works on the specific mechanics of how the two of you argue.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Narrative Therapy

Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Barbara practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Barbara's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Barbara at this point.

2. Naming Barbara specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Barbara is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Barbara.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

3 questions worth asking Barbara

Built from what Barbara actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Barbara's - Barbara has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

Colorado

Licence

CO LCSW CSW.09926714

Licence number

CSW.09926714

Licence expires

31 Aug 2027

NPI

1639795586

Years in practice

5

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Barbara's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 5 Nov 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Barbara. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.