Stephanie Nortz

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor with experience supporting individuals navigating anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions, and emotional dysregulation. My clinical background includes individual therapy, group therapy, and intensive outpatient settings, where I've worked with clients facing mental health and substance use challenges.

I believe therapy should be a space where you feel safe, understood, and gently challenged in meaningful ways. Healing can be hard work, but it doesn't have to feel cold or intimidating. I bring authenticity, compassion, and even humor into therapy when appropriate, because growth often happens when we feel both supported and comfortable enough to be ourselves.

My approach to therapy is compassionate, collaborative, and practical. I often utilize Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Dialectical behavioral therapy skills education (DBT), and Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT) to help my clients better understand their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors while building skills for lasting change.

I believe therapy is more than just talking, it's about learning, practicing, and applying new tools in real life situations. That may include coping exercises, mindfulness practices, worksheets, journaling prompts, or between session "homework" to help reinforce progress. I also like to make therapy feel relatable and engaging, often using real life examples and pop culture references to explain concepts in a way that feels approachable and memorable.

The first session is all about getting to know you and your story: What brings you to therapy, what you hope to get out of the process, and what support feels most helpful to you. We'll walk through current challenges, explore important parts of your history, and begin identifying goals for treatment.

My goal in the first session is to create a space where you feel comfortable, heard, and understood without pressure or judgement. By the end of our first session, my hope is that you leave feeling more grounded, a little less alone, with a clearer sense of where we're headed together, and maybe even with coping a skill or two.