Gillian Van Dien, LPC

Gillian Van Dien is a licensed professional counselor with 17 years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, and grief. She works with adults and teenagers on communication struggles, self-esteem, parenting stress, and life changes. Her practical, calm style focuses on small, manageable steps toward feeling better. Gillian uses clear, person-centered conversations to identify unhelpful patterns and build new coping skills. She emphasizes self-compassion and gently challenges habits that keep people stuck. Sessions often include strategies for managing overwhelming emotions and improving communication with others. Her background includes long experience supporting people after trauma and helping those who carry caregiver or compassion fatigue. She also helps people dealing with aging and geriatric issues, chronic illness or pain, and difficult transitions like divorce or loss. Gillian pays attention to how relationships and attachment shape current struggles. Therapy with her blends evidence-based techniques such as cognitive behavioral work with emotion-focused and acceptance-based approaches. The aim is to reduce immediate distress while strengthening long-term resilience. Clients work together with her to set goals and measure progress in ways that matter to them. People who come to Gillian find a steady, respectful presence and an emphasis on practical tools. She supports clients through concrete changes, from shifting negative self-talk to improving day-to-day routines. Her approach suits those who want a collaborative therapist who listens and offers clear steps forward.

Approaches that guide online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on helping people notice painful thoughts without letting them drive behavior and to move toward values-based goals. It can help with anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to reduce distress and change unhelpful behavior. It is often used for anxiety, mood, and stress management. Attachment-Based Therapy examines patterns in close relationships and how early bonds affect current interactions; it can be useful for relationship strain, intimacy concerns, and attachment issues.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. That means trying interventions, checking what helps, and adjusting the plan together rather than committing to a single path from the start.

The original biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm current session options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into busy days, shorten commute time, and let someone check in from a quieter place. They also allow more flexible scheduling for people juggling caregiving, work, or medical appointments. Licensed professionals can adapt ACT, CBT, and attachment-based work to remote settings by using focused exercises, behavior plans, and emotion-focused conversations to keep progress moving forward.