Gillian Van Dien
Compassionate counseling for life transitions
- Credentials
- LPC
- Experience
- 17 years
- Licensed in
- Wisconsin
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Gillian
Gillian Van Dien is a licensed professional counselor with 17 years of clinical experience based in Wisconsin. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and parenting challenges. She also supports those dealing with relationship and intimacy-related issues, trauma and abuse, eating concerns, and work or career transitions.
Her style is warm and collaborative. Sessions focus on practical steps clients can try between meetings. Gillian uses plain language and a steady presence to help people make small changes that add up over time.
Background and approach
She draws from several evidence-based tools, including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and attachment-based approaches. These methods are used to address patterns of thinking, emotional pain, and ways of connecting with others. The aim is to reduce symptoms while building skills for everyday life.
In session she listens for what matters most to each person and tailors exercises to the client's goals. Work may include communication practice, values-based actions, and techniques to manage difficult emotions. Progress is measured in concrete changes clients notice at home, work, and in relationships.
Gillian brings a long track record of helping adults navigate life transitions, caregiving stress, and challenges around body image and self-esteem. Her practice supports people who want a blend of talk, practical tools, and steady guidance as they move toward clearer priorities and healthier routines.
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters to them and take small actions toward those values while learning to live with difficult feelings. It is useful for anxiety, depression, grief, and life transitions. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on patterns of connection and how early relationships shape expectations. It can help people who struggle with intimacy, communication, and trust. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, examines unhelpful thought and behavior cycles and teaches skills to shift those patterns, which is often helpful for anxiety, depression, and stress.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and daily routines, then recommend methods to try. Together they adjust the plan as progress is made so the work feels practical and relevant.
Online sessions use video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules, to continue work during transitions, and to revisit notes or exercises shared in messaging. Many people find that mixing formats helps maintain momentum between meetings while keeping care accessible from home.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.
Attachment-Based Therapy
Looks at how early bonds shaped what you expect from closeness, and how that plays out now with a partner, a parent, or your own children.
Client-Centered Therapy
The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 17 years
- Licensed
- Wisconsin
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Gillian
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point