Anastasia Smith-McEwen, LPC

Anastasia Smith-McEwen is a Licensed Professional Counselor who helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, and parenting concerns. She also supports people facing grief, addiction, attention challenges, mood shifts, and career stress. Her work is practical and straightforward, aimed at giving people tools they can use between sessions.

She brings 11 years of experience in Mississippi settings. That work has included home-based foster care, crisis counseling at a community mental health center, and therapy in an acute inpatient facility. Those roles involved individual counseling, group work, and family sessions with a range of mental health concerns.

Anastasia uses a mix of approaches in her sessions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Client-centered methods focus on listening and reflecting so people feel heard and understood. She also draws on mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused techniques to set goals and build skills.

In a typical session she will listen closely, help set small goals, and teach straightforward strategies to try between meetings. Sessions are practical and paced to the person’s needs. She aims to make therapy feel useful from the start.

People who choose her often want clear steps to manage daily life and relationships. Anastasia emphasizes collaboration and concrete tools so clients can practice new skills outside of sessions.

Approaches that translate well to online work

CBT helps people identify unhelpful thought patterns and change behaviors. Online sessions can include worksheets, thought records, and step-by-step behavioral experiments to try between meetings, which many people find practical for anxiety, depression, and attention challenges.

Client-centered therapy emphasizes listening, empathy, and collaboration. This approach helps people feel heard and supported, and it can be effective through video or phone sessions when someone needs space to talk things through.

Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing exercises to reduce stress and increase awareness. Those practices can be guided in live sessions and then practiced during the week to handle strong emotions or moments of overwhelm.

Finding the best approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful. Together they decide whether to focus on skills practice, reflective listening, or goal-oriented exercises and adjust the plan as needed.

Online formats offer flexibility. Video calls are good for a face-to-face feel and working through structured exercises. Phone sessions reduce bandwidth needs and can be easier during a busy day. Live chat and text-based messaging allow short check-ins, brief skills practice, and follow-ups between meetings. These options make it easier to fit therapy into daily life while working toward change.