Practitioner record · Checked 7 Oct 2026

James Gilligan has been in practice 20 years and is licensed in Washington. James lists stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and trauma and abuse among 27 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from James's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

20years in practice
27subjects listed
8approaches listed

01 · Who James works with

James works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and trauma and abuse

James lists 17 specialisms and 10 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects James chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Relationship issues
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Grief
  • Self esteem
  • Addictions
  • Family conflicts
  • Intimacy-related issues
  • Eating disorders
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Parenting issues
  • Anger management
  • Career difficulties
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Depression
  • Coping with life changes
  • Compassion fatigue
Also experienced with
  • Abandonment
  • Attachment issues
  • Codependency
  • Communication problems
  • Guilt and shame
  • Life purpose
  • Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
  • Mood disorders
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Workplace issues

02 · In James's own words

What James says about the work

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

I earned my Master's degree in social work from Florida International University in 1998. I became licensed in 2000 from Florida. I worked with children in the school system in Miami-Dade county for several years. Providing individual, group and family therapy.

I worked with severally mentally ill clients dealing with people who have issues with Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression.

Since 2007 I worked with active duty military. I focused on marital issues, individual therapy for people struggling with anxiety, depression, worries, and PTSD. I also worked with soldiers who had issues with domestic violence. I have skill sets with dealing with people who come from dysfunctional family systems and they carry this type of trauma into their adult life and families. I also have a skill set of working with addictions and eating disorders. I have also provided marital counseling and have been trained in Gottman Marriage Counseling.

I have experience using multiple treatment approaches to therapy including CBT, DBT, ACT, EMDR, and motivational interviewing skills. I have a strength in helping clients to make changes in their life that they would like to make.

James Gilligan, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How James works

The 8 approaches James lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods James lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not James'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 James runs a session.

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.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR
A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.
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.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

James 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 James'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 James at this point.

  2. Naming James specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for James 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 James.

  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

4 questions worth asking James

Built from what James actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not James's - James 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.

  • “With 20 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

    Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

  • “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
LICSW
Licensed in
Washington
Licence
WA LICSW SWI.LW.70085032, FL LCSW SW6196
Licence number
SW6196
Licence expires
31 Mar 2027
NPI
1346446002
Years in practice
20
Gender
Male
Languages
English
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
12 Sep 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

James'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 7 Oct 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 James. 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.

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