About Josie Ridpath, LICSW
Online Therapist for Moms in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hi, I'm Josie.
I know what it feels like to pour everything into your career and your family and still go to bed feeling like you fell short.
For a long time I carried that fear quietly — holding myself to impossible standards, running on empty, and feeling like no matter how much I gave it was never quite right.
That changed when I stopped measuring myself against a standard no one could meet — and found a deeper meaning in my motherhood that had nothing to do with getting it right today. The anxiety got quieter. The guilt got lighter. I started showing up for my kids and my husband from a place of wholeness instead of fear — and this season of life finally started to feel like something I could actually enjoy.
Now I'm committed to helping other career-driven, perfectionist moms find that same ground. Because I believe when a mom is supported and whole, that healing doesn't stay with her — it ripples into her kids, her marriage, and her home.
Licensed Therapist Trained in Perinatal Mental Health
My Path to This Work
I earned my undergraduate degree from North Central University in Minneapolis and my Master's degree in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul — both in the Twin Cities, where I've built my practice and my life. Over the past seven years I've worked with teenagers, young adults, and adults navigating a wide range of mental health challenges. That breadth of experience shaped how I work — but it was in working with moms that I found my purpose.
I am trained in Perinatal Mental Health — specialized training that goes beyond postpartum depression to understand the full mental and emotional landscape of a woman's experience becoming and being a mother — however that path looked for her. Because what happens to a woman in this season isn't just clinical — it's identity-level. And it deserves informed, specialized care.
My clinical toolkit includes DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) for emotional regulation and distress tolerance, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) for shifting unhelpful thought patterns, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed approaches, and solution-focused therapy. Everything I do is practical, evidence-based, and built around you — not a textbook version of you.
What Working With Me Actually Looks Like
I don't just sit and nod. I don't give advice you didn't ask for. And I don't make you feel like a case study. I'm genuine, warm, and judgment-free. I'll name what I'm noticing. I'll ask the question you haven't been able to ask yourself.
My style is built on a few things I believe deeply: You are the expert on your own life. I'm a partner and a guide — not an authority. My job is to help you see what's already inside you and give you the tools to actually use it. Your mental health is not your identity. You are a whole person — a mom, a professional, a wife, a friend, a woman with a history and a future. I want to know all of her, not just the part that's struggling.
Progress should be something you can feel. We're not just talking — we're building. Every session is led by your needs — and I aim to leave you with something real to work with. Whether you're looking for short-term support through a specific season or longer-term work that goes deeper — I'll follow your lead as we build something that actually fits your life.
Who I Work Best With
I work specifically with career-driven, perfectionist moms who are doing everything right on the outside and quietly falling apart on the inside. You might be a working mom navigating the tension between ambition and presence, a mom who loves her kids fiercely and still sometimes resents the role. You might be burned out, anxious, snapping at the people you love most, and going to bed every night feeling like you fell short.
You don't need to have it figured out before you call. You just need to be ready to stop carrying it alone.
A Little More About Me
Outside of the therapy room I'm a wife, a mom, a sister, an aunt, and a friend. My Christian faith is an important part of my life. I welcome clients of all backgrounds and beliefs and I know how meaningful it can be to work with a therapist who shares your worldview. I love going on walks, traveling, reading, baking sourdough and watching Survivor. Before I built a private practice in the Twin Cities I spent time living in France, Bangladesh, and Eswatini — learning languages, navigating cultures completely different from my own, and figuring out who I was far from everything familiar. I backpacked through Europe for two weeks alone, skied in the French Alps, and have even gone skydiving.
I tell you this not to impress you — but because I think it matters who your therapist is as a human being. I am someone who has been deeply uncomfortable, deeply outside her comfort zone, and found her way through. That shapes how I show up in the room with you.
I know what it feels like to be in the middle of something hard and not be able to see the other side yet. And I know what it feels like to get there.
Ready to Take the First Step?
I'm honored to walk alongside moms who are ready to stop surviving this season and start actually feeling present in their own life.
If any of this sounds like you — I'd love to connect.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation and let's see if we're a good fit. No pressure. Just a conversation.
Book a Free Consultation