Penny Gifford
Practical, experienced counseling for life challenges
- Credentials
- LPC, LCPC
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed in
- Colorado, Montana, California
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Penny
Penny Gifford is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with three decades of experience. She focuses on helping adults build practical skills to manage stress, anxiety, addiction, mood shifts, and life transitions. Penny aims to create a calm, non-judgmental space where people can talk through problems and try new ways of coping.
Her style is direct and collaborative. Sessions tend to be goal-oriented and solution-focused while still leaving room for personal reflection.
Background and approach
She uses plain language and teaches concrete tools clients can use between meetings. The tone in sessions is supportive but focused on making real changes. Penny draws from client-centered work to keep the person and their priorities at the center of treatment.
She also uses cognitive behavioral strategies to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. When helpful, she brings in elements of dialectical behavior therapy to teach emotional regulation and coping skills. Across her practice she addresses a wide range of concerns including family and relationship stress, trauma, grief, self-esteem issues, eating and sleeping problems, substance use, and attention or mood disorders.
She also works with problems such as attachment difficulties, codependency, communication struggles, caregiver stress, and challenges around divorce or domestic violence. Penny practices in California and conducts sessions in English. Her approach emphasizes collaboration: she helps clients set clear goals and checks progress over time.
The work is practical, steady, and aimed at equipping people with tools they can use in daily life.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Client-centered therapy keeps the person's own goals and values at the center of work and focuses on listening and responding to what matters most. This approach helps people clarify priorities and build motivation for change. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, uses straightforward tools to identify unhelpful thoughts and shift behaviors, which can reduce anxiety, depression, and problematic habits.Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. Penny will collaborate with each person to pick techniques that match their needs, goals, and preferences. The plan can be adjusted over time as progress is tracked and new challenges appear.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to offer flexibility for busy schedules or remote locations. These options make it possible to practice skills and check in regularly without added travel. The online format supports steady, skills-focused work and lets people continue treatment around their daily life.
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.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Concrete skills for riding out strong emotion, tolerating distress, and handling relationships without things escalating. The skills are practised in daily life, so between-session support by message or phone fits naturally.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of issues does Penny help with?
What is Penny's therapeutic style?
How long has Penny been practicing?
What credentials and location are listed for Penny?
Which languages are supported for sessions?
What session formats are available?
How are costs handled for sessions?
How do I begin working with Penny?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Colorado, Montana, California
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Penny
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point