Stephen Murphy
Practical support for stress and parenting challenges
- Credentials
- LICSW, MD, LCSW-C
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed in
- Virginia, Alabama, Georgia
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Stephen
Stephen Murphy is a licensed social worker and therapist with ten years of experience. He holds LICSW, MD, and LCSW-C credentials and practices in Maryland. He works with people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, grief, and parenting concerns.
He also addresses relationship struggles and issues related to self-esteem and life changes. Stephen keeps sessions straightforward and practical. He listens first, then helps identify a few clear steps to try between meetings.
Background and approach
He uses tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy to reduce painful thoughts and rebuild everyday routines. He also draws on attachment-based ideas to understand how past relationships affect current ones. Clients can expect a calm, curious conversation where goals are set together.
Stephen encourages small experiments that test new ways of coping. He explains techniques in plain language and checks in about how they feel and work for each person. He has particular experience with issues that often come with caregiving, blended families, adoption and foster care, and the stresses of workplace and career changes.
He also supports people dealing with trauma, domestic violence, and complicated grief. Sessions are available in English and Stephen accepts international clients. He offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so people can choose what fits their life and schedule.
Online approaches that fit busy family lives
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice painful thoughts without getting stuck in them and focus on living in ways that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and managing life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, teaches straightforward skills to change unhelpful thinking patterns and build new habits for mood and anxiety problems. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns influence current behavior and helps repair trust and connection in close relationships.Finding the right approach is part of therapy. The therapist will work collaboratively to choose methods that fit a person's goals, needs, and preferences. Sessions often mix ideas from different approaches so practical tools and deeper understanding can both be part of progress.
Online sessions offer flexibility for parents and busy professionals. Video calls let people meet face to face from home, while phone, live chat, and text messaging provide shorter or more flexible ways to stay connected. These options make it easier to fit therapy into real life and try strategies between meetings.
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
What kinds of concerns does Stephen address?
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How much experience does he have?
What are his credentials and where is he based?
Which languages are supported and can international clients connect?
What session formats are available?
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, District of Columbia, Maryland
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Stephen
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point