Christine Ryan, LPC

Christine Ryan is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with four decades of experience helping people navigate life’s hard turns. She blends psychotherapy and life coaching to support people facing relationship strain, grief, anxiety, depression, career shifts, and caregiving stress. Christine practices from Texas and draws on long experience in hospital social work and community mental health settings.

She spent much of her career in Dallas and later moved to the Bay Area, where she added life coaching to her work and expanded into phone and online services. Christine holds a master’s degree from Arizona State University and has been licensed since 1983. She also completed coach training through Coach Training Alliance and has experience as a telephonic critical incident responder.

Christine works in straightforward phases: first clarifying the situation, then looking at how it has affected choices and behavior, and finally identifying practical steps forward. That solution-oriented focus aims to help people make concrete changes that improve day-to-day life. She uses client-centered approaches alongside cognitive behavioral and solution-focused methods to guide that process.

Her additional focus areas include aging and geriatric issues, cancer, caregiver stress, blended family concerns, and compassion fatigue. Christine is also a long-term cancer survivor and draws on that lived experience when supporting people facing serious illness and loss.

Sessions emphasize collaboration and practical problem solving. Christine aims to be a clear, steady partner who helps people sort options, build coping strategies, and move toward goals at a pace that fits their lives.

How her approaches shape online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding each person's perspective. The therapist creates space for people to tell their story and helps them find their own direction. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and uses practical exercises to change unhelpful patterns. Solution-Focused Therapy narrows in on goals and small steps that lead to measurable change.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. Christine works with each person to decide which combination of methods best fits their goals and preferences. She adjusts plans as needs change and checks in about what is helping and what is not.

Practical benefits of online work include fitting sessions into a busy day and keeping continuity when life is in flux. Because session formats are not listed in her biography, confirm current session options before booking. Many people find online or phone work makes it easier to keep appointments, have shorter check-ins when needed, and schedule sessions around work, caregiving, or medical treatments. Licensed professionals can use these formats to maintain therapeutic momentum while focusing on concrete steps and coping strategies that translate into everyday life.