Carla Bensie, LPC

Carla Bensie is a Licensed Professional Counselor with eleven years of experience. She practices in West Virginia and focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and addiction. She also supports those coping with trauma, abuse, and major life changes. Carla aims to create an open, nonjudgmental space where clients can talk about difficult thoughts and feelings. She uses practical methods to help people find clearer thinking and healthier habits. Sessions are collaborative and goal-oriented. Her work often centers on improving emotional regulation and everyday coping skills. She helps people struggling with anger, low self-esteem, body image, and intimacy-related concerns. She also addresses issues like grief, hospice and end-of-life questions, and family of origin patterns. Carla uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy along with mindfulness and skills-based approaches to change unhelpful patterns. She includes trauma-focused techniques when recovery from past harm is needed. The focus is on small, achievable steps that build toward better functioning. People who prefer clear tools and gentle challenge tend to do well with her approach. She supports LGBT clients and those facing co-occurring problems such as bipolar symptoms or substance use. Her style blends direct problem-solving with warm, steady support.

How Carla Uses Practical Approaches Online

Carla commonly draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy to guide online work. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with real-life experiments to reduce anxiety and depression. DBT emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and communication skills to manage intense emotions and reduce impulsive behaviors. She also integrates EMDR-informed, trauma-focused techniques when clients need to process painful memories. Those methods aim to reduce the emotional intensity tied to trauma and help people regain daily functioning. Carla will talk with each person about which approach or mix of approaches fits their goals and comfort level. Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist and client review needs, goals, and preferences and then try methods that match those priorities. That shared planning helps tailor tools and homework to what feels useful in everyday life. Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for full sessions and face-to-face interaction. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Chat and messaging offer flexible ways to get brief support, share updates, and practice skills between sessions.