Welcome, and thank you for being here to learn more about me to see if we could be a good fit to work together! My name is Stefanie and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Wisconsin. I have over 10 years of experience working in the mental health field and have worked in a variety of settings, including inpatient hospital, Intensive Outpatient programs, in-home therapy, case management programs and outpatient therapy. All that means is that I have a wide variety of experience that has allowed me to see and work with a wide range and severity of clinical issues. Much of my experience is working with depression, anxiety, complex trauma, PTSD and severe and persistent mental illness, like schizophrenia. Throughout the course of working with those particular mental health issues, I also have worked with family and relationship conflicts and anger issues. My desire to pursue a career in the mental health field began in my senior year of high school and I stayed with that path all throughout my undergraduate and graduate education. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (go Blugolds!) and my Master’s degree in Educational Psychology – Community Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After I completed my undergraduate degree, I worked for about one year for the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare as a case manager for families involved in the foster care system. I learned quickly in that job while making referrals for the families on my caseload for mental health services that I wanted to be the person receiving those referrals. I have experienced first-hand mental health issues in my own family and understand how challenging it can be coping with these issues for the person struggling and their loved ones. I also have seen how much life can improve for people when they find the support they need and can begin to take better care of themselves. Despite so much effort to eliminate it, the stigma around mental health remains and I believe that being able to access support online can reach so many more people who want to take steps toward taking better care of themselves. I recently took a few years away from outpatient therapy to be at home with my young, growing family and I think that utilizing online counseling is the perfect fit right now for me and my family. I use a holistic, person-centered, eclectic approach to my work, meaning I will meet you where you are at and tailor my approach to your needs. My treatment approach is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has been strongly influenced by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I also utilize mindfulness techniques, values based therapy and solution focused therapy. I am also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming) for working with people who have experienced trauma. If you are looking for someone to give advice or tell you what to do, I am not your person. I believe in facilitating a conversation that leads you to discovering how you can best cope with, manage and overcome the struggles you have. That sounds like a little “tough love” and I do have that side of me, but I also come from a place of empathy and warmth that helps to foster that conversation to be supportive and effective. I believe that mental health is as important as physical health, and just like it can take time to see positive changes in our physical health and wellness, I believe that mental health requires the same consistency and patience to see positive changes. I look forward to working with you and thank you again for taking the time to get to know me a little better.