Stephanie Petersen, LCSW, LMSW

Stephanie Petersen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Missouri and a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in Michigan. She brings 14 years of clinical experience and a straightforward, skills-focused style to sessions. Stephanie helps people manage stress, anxiety, grief, relationship strain, addiction, and life transitions with practical tools and steady support.

She emphasizes approaches such as cognitive behavioral work and mindfulness to teach coping skills people can use between sessions. Stephanie also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and motivational interviewing when it fits a person’s goals. She spends time looking at past experiences and current thoughts so clients learn more about themselves and try new ways of responding.

Her background includes medical social work and home health, and she has provided telehealth therapy since 2020. That experience informs how she supports caregivers, people adjusting to illness, and those facing chronic medical challenges. Stephanie also addresses parenting concerns, aging and geriatric issues, blended family dynamics, and cancer-related stress.

Sessions focus on clear, achievable steps such as thought tracking, mindfulness exercises, values-based goal setting, and relapse prevention planning for substance concerns. Stephanie describes herself as a nonjudgmental cheerleader who coaches clients through setbacks and progress alike.

Outside of work she enjoys reading, travel, movies, music, martial arts, gardening, and her French bulldogs. She invites anyone ready to try a practical, compassionate approach to contact the service portal and begin the matching process.

How Stephanie uses ACT, CBT, and Mindfulness online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying personal values and taking small steps toward them while learning to accept difficult feelings. It can help with life transitions, grief, and long-term challenges. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and behavior and teaches practical exercises like thought records and behavior experiments to reduce anxiety and depression. Mindfulness Therapy teaches attention exercises and grounding practices that reduce reactivity and improve stress management.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Stephanie will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and what to try first. Goals, preferences, and life demands guide the plan, and strategies can be adjusted as progress is made.

Confirm current session options before booking, as specific formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules, shorten commute time, and let people use brief check-ins or longer sessions when that suits their week. It also lets a therapist guide mindfulness practices, coach through behavior experiments, and review thought-tracking worksheets in real time so skills can be practiced and refined between meetings.