Ashley French, MSW

About

Ashley French MSW, is a therapist at Expand Psychology in Falls Church, VA. She provides therapy for adults, adolescents, couples, and families, particularly during times of significant life transitions. Ashley creates a non-judgmental, supportive, and genuine space for clients to explore their emotions, relationships, thought patterns, and past experiences. She tailors her approach using integrative therapies that draw from cognitive, behavioral and trauma-informed modalities. Ashley utilizes her social work background to examine the systems influencing each client’s self-perception, including family, community, and systemic power systems. Her work is grounded in meeting each client where they are and empowering them to move toward meaningful change.

Ashley’s clinical focus includes treating individuals experiencing depression, anxiety, PTSD, emotional dysregulation, interpersonal conflict, mood and personality disorders, and significant life transitions such as career changes, and grief or loss.

Specialization

Ashley works with individuals, co-parents, and families navigating the effects of separation, divorce, high-conflict family dynamics, and co-parenting coordination. Ashley is especially attuned to the needs of clients engaged in the complexities of the family law system and she brings a unique blend of therapeutic and legal understanding to her work with complex family dynamics, the legal system, and the emotional and psychological impacts of trauma.

Ashley specializes in working with couples through relationship repair helping couples find clarity and direction regardless of the outcome. When providing couples therapy, Ashley utilizes the basic principles of Emotionally Focused Therapy in couples therapy to guide partners through cycles of disconnection to facilitate conflict resolution, foster secure attachment, and deepen emotional connection.

Education, Training, and Professional Experience

Ashley earned her Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Adult Mental Health and Trauma from the University of Denver. She also holds a Master of Legal Studies degree from American University, which provided her with a strong foundation in family law and allowed her to work as a paralegal in the family law field to better understand the legal impacts of high-conflict divorce and custody disputes. Ashley previously provided clinical therapy services to individuals, couples, and families at The Women’s Center in Vienna, Virginia, where she worked with a diverse range of low-income clients and survivors of domestic violence.