About Gretchen
Gretchen Ashman is an AASW social worker with seven years' experience supporting people through hard moments. She focuses on practical steps and plain talk so someone under stress can feel heard and begin to make changes. Her approach aims to reduce overwhelm and build steady coping skills rather than offering quick fixes.
Gretchen works with people dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse. She also helps with low self-esteem, social anxiety and feelings of isolation.
How Gretchen works
Family concerns, guilt and shame, and questions about life purpose are areas she commonly supports people to untangle. In sessions she encourages honest conversation and gentle challenge. Sessions are collaborative - she listens, reflects, and suggests small experiments to try between meetings.
The work often starts with identifying what feels most urgent and what can be changed gradually. Gretchen aims to create a calm space where thoughts and feelings can be talked about without judgement. She supports people who want to build confidence, improve relationships, or move past painful experiences.
Her style is straightforward, warm and focused on real-life improvements. People come to her wanting clearer direction, less daily anxiety, or relief from low mood. She helps set simple goals and practical plans to reach them.
Over time those small steps often add up to meaningful change.
What Gretchen works with
The areas below are the ones Gretchen selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
Training and background
| Register | AASW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 7 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Australia |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How approaches and online sessions work together
Gretchen uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical change and emotional processing. One common approach helps people learn skills to manage anxiety and stress through simple breathing, activity planning and thought tracking; this suits everyday overwhelm and social anxiety. Another approach focuses on working through traumatic memories and their effects by naming the experience, practising grounding strategies and building safer ways of relating to difficult feelings; this is often used for trauma and abuse recovery.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Gretchen collaborates with each person to decide which techniques match their goals, needs and preferences. She reviews progress and adjusts the plan so therapy stays useful and focused on what matters most to the client.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video is good for a fuller conversation and visual connection. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier to fit into a busy day. Live chat and messaging are useful for shorter check-ins, immediate reflections or people who prefer writing. These options make it simpler to keep therapy going around work, study or family commitments.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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