PuttingFamilyFirst

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SP Portrait of Stephanie Petersen
Online therapist

Stephanie Petersen

Practical support for parents and families

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Credentials
LCSW, LMSW
Experience
14 years
Licensed in
Michigan, Missouri
Languages
English
Format
Online sessions

About Stephanie

Stephanie Petersen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) with 14 years of experience. She practices in Michigan and focuses on practical skills parents and families can use right away. Stephanie keeps sessions straightforward and goal-oriented, helping people manage stress, anxiety, grief, parenting challenges, and life changes.

She uses tools from cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and psychodynamic ideas.

Background and approach

That mix allows her to teach coping skills, look at patterns that cause pain, and try new behaviors that fit daily life. Sessions often include working on thinking patterns, small behavior changes, and strategies parents can use at home. Stephanie draws on prior work in medical social work and home health.

Those roles informed her approach to illness, caregiving stress, chronic health concerns, and grief. She also has experience addressing addictions, relationship and family conflict, blended family issues, and challenges around attachment and intimacy. Her style is supportive and down-to-earth.

She aims to be a nonjudgmental ally who helps people set realistic steps toward goals. Parents and families can expect clear suggestions, practice between sessions, and a focus on what will help most right now. Outside of therapy she enjoys reading, travel, movies, music, martial arts, gardening, and time with her French bulldogs.

That same practical, everyday energy shows up in her sessions and in how she helps families handle stress and change.

Online approaches that fit family life

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice their thoughts without getting stuck in them and identify values to guide behavior. It is useful when life changes or parenting stress make it hard to act in line with what matters most. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and trying small behavior changes to reduce anxiety or low mood. This approach often includes practical homework parents can use between sessions to see real shifts.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Stephanie will talk with each person or family about goals, preferences, and what feels useful. She tailors techniques from ACT, CBT, mindfulness, and other methods to fit the situation rather than using a single fixed method, so families can try what helps and adjust as needed.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy easier to fit into busy family schedules. These options allow for flexible timing, reduce travel, and let parents use tools learned in session during everyday moments. The goal is to make practical support accessible and to help people try small changes that add up over time.

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.

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.

Mindfulness Therapy

Attention training: noticing thoughts and physical feelings as they arrive without being carried off by them. Much of it is practice you do yourself, so guidance over video or audio works much as it would in person.

Frequently asked questions

What concerns does she commonly address?
She works with stress, anxiety, grief, self-esteem, parenting, relationship and family conflict, and a range of other issues listed in her specialties.
What is her therapy style like?
Her style is practical and supportive, mixing skills training with exploration of past patterns and mindful awareness.
How long has she been practicing?
She has 14 years of professional experience in social work and clinical settings.
Which credentials and locations apply to her practice?
She holds LCSW and LMSW credentials with licensing details MO LCSW 2020010894 and MI LMSW 6801093151, and she practices in Michigan.
Can sessions be conducted in other languages?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
Sessions can take place by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging.
How are costs and billing handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with Stephanie?
Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and scheduling according to therapist availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience
14 years
Licensed
Michigan, Missouri
Languages
English

Next step

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