Latonya Cotton

You may be the person everyone depends on while privately feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or unsure how to move forward. I especially support women and caregivers navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship stress, substance use recovery, and major life transitions, including postpartum changes and menopause. I also work with teens and families experiencing conflict, emotional or behavioral concerns, and difficult transitions. As a Maryland LCSW-C with more than 20 years in social services and behavioral health, I provide culturally responsive, whole-person care where you can be honest, feel understood, reconnect with your strengths, and create meaningful change without judgment.

My approach is warm, direct, collaborative, and trauma-informed. I use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you understand and change unhelpful patterns, solution-focused therapy to build on your strengths and choose achievable next steps, motivational interviewing to work through uncertainty, and mindfulness and grounding skills to manage stress. Sessions give you room to process what happened and understand how relationships, culture, family patterns, and past experiences affect you today, while also practicing tools you can use between visits. I offer compassion while asking thoughtful questions and gently challenging patterns that may be keeping you stuck. If faith or spirituality is important to you, we can include it in a way that respects your beliefs and preferences.

Starting therapy can feel vulnerable, so your first session will be a supportive, structured, and relaxed intake conversation—not a test or a rush to share your entire story. You are welcome to set the pace and share only what feels comfortable. We will discuss what brought you to therapy, what feels most important right now, relevant history, your strengths and supports, and what you hope will change. I will explain how I work, answer your questions, and make sure you feel comfortable with my approach. By the end of the session, we will begin defining your goals and agree on practical next steps together.