Behind the Healing: The Therapist

Finding a therapist you trust and feel rapport with can be challenging. That is why I believe it’s important for you to know a little about the person sitting across from you.

I’m Caitlyn Yesavage, MSW, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker in North Carolina. I grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and have always been drawn to helping others and being involved in my community. Outside of therapy, some of the things I value most are spending time with my family and friends, being around animals, and finding ways to serve my community.

My interest in becoming a therapist started fairly early in life. Throughout middle school and high school, I found myself increasingly fascinated by psychology, human behavior, and what makes people who they are. I have also always been a highly sensitive and highly empathetic individual. As college grew closer, I knew I wanted my career to involve serving others in some meaningful way.

That path became clearer after I participated in multiple mission trips to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina while I was in high school. Meeting people who had experienced significant loss and trauma had a profound impact on me. I saw how deeply difficult experiences could affect individuals, families, and communities—and I realized that I wanted to find a way to serve people on a more personal and deeper level of healing.

That experience helped lead me toward social work.

I earned my undergraduate degree in social work from North Carolina State University and later received my Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. I am now a licensed clinical social worker in North Carolina, working with teenagers and adults experiencing a variety of concerns, including trauma, neurodivergence, high sensitivity, mood concerns, executive functioning difficulties, and self-esteem and confidence concerns. I also enjoy serving our next generation by leading both elementary and adolescent aged equine assisted Confidence Camps.

One area I have developed a particular passion for is helping people better understand and manage their neurodivergent needs. As someone who also has ADHD, I understand personally that the way our brains work can influence how we experience school, work, relationships, organization, emotions, confidence, and everyday life. I believe therapy can be a place to move away from shame and toward understanding—learning what your brain needs, identifying your strengths, and finding strategies that actually work for you.

I also believe that everyone deserves to have a therapist who respects and affirms who they are. I am proud to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community and strive to create a welcoming, inclusive, and judgment-free space where clients can feel safe bringing their authentic selves into therapy.

But therapy is about much more than a list of diagnoses or concerns.

I believe people are complex. Sometimes the things that look like “problems” on the surface are actually our brains and bodies trying to cope, communicate, protect us, or make sense of experiences that have been difficult. My goal is to create a space where you can bring those parts of yourself without having to hide them.

My approach to therapy is curious, compassionate, and individualized. There is no one-size-fits-all path to healing. What works for one person may not work for another, and therapy should leave room for your personality, experiences, strengths, needs, identity, and goals.

Whether you’re working through past experiences, trying to better understand yourself, navigating life as a neurodivergent or highly sensitive person, struggling with confidence, or simply feeling stuck, you deserve a space where you can be understood without judgment.

And perhaps most importantly, I believe healing doesn’t have to mean becoming someone different.

Behind the healing is a therapist who believes you are more than what you’re struggling with—and that sometimes, healing means becoming more fully yourself.