Kurt Ruffley, LCPC

Kurt Ruffley is a licensed clinical professional counselor with four years of experience. He practices from Montana and offers a mix of online and occasional in-person sessions. Kurt aims to make therapy straightforward and useful for people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, parenting challenges, low self-esteem, and depression.

He favors approaches that help people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. In sessions he uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy along with skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy and mindfulness to teach coping tools. He also brings in solution-focused ideas and motivational interviewing when people want focused, short-term progress.

Kurt keeps sessions practical and goal oriented. He helps people set manageable steps, try new skills between meetings, and track what works. Many conversations focus on reducing overwhelm, improving communication, and managing strong emotions.

He has relevant experience supporting people with issues such as abandonment, adoption and foster care concerns, autism and Asperger Syndrome, caregiver stress, chronic illness, substance concerns, codependency, and family of origin problems. Kurt also works with those dealing with trauma, domestic violence, and disaster-related stress.

Sessions are offered by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules. The intake and scheduling process is kept simple so people can start work on goals without extra hassle.

How CBT, DBT, and Mindfulness work online

CBT helps people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors by breaking problems into manageable parts and testing new actions. It is often used for anxiety, depression, and stress-related issues. DBT offers concrete skills for regulating emotions, handling crises, and improving interpersonal effectiveness; it is useful when intense feelings or relationship problems get in the way of daily life. Mindfulness therapy teaches simple attention practices to reduce reactivity and build awareness of body and mind, which can help with stress and trauma symptoms.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match goals, preferences, and how they respond in early sessions. That shared decision-making can mean trying CBT-focused plans first, adding DBT skills, or using brief solution-focused steps when someone wants faster momentum.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to give more flexibility. Video is useful for hands-on skills training and face-to-face conversation, phone can fit a short check-in or low bandwidth situations, and messaging or chat allows brief check-ins or ongoing coaching between meetings. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, caregiving, or rural living.