Laverne Santangelo, LPC

Laverne Santangelo is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Michigan who focuses on practical support for common life struggles. She offers straightforward help for stress, anxiety, addiction concerns, depression, mood swings, relationship challenges, grief, and parenting strain. Laverne draws on ten years of counseling experience along with a long history of volunteer and service work to guide conversations toward clearer steps forward.

She combines a person-centered attitude with tools from cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and mindfulness. Sessions prioritize the client’s goals and begin with simple, measurable steps that fit daily life. Laverne often blends talk-based work with coaching ideas to help people build habits and track progress.

Her background includes work in inpatient and community mental health settings and experience supporting people facing substance use and serious mood disorders. She also led groups focused on life transitions and helped family members understand addiction. Laverne draws on lived experience with mental health and addiction in her family and her own life, and she is a military veteran with long service in the Army National Guard.

In sessions she aims to reduce shame and blame, and to help clients find practical ways to manage difficult feelings. She supports people working through guilt, forgiveness, codependency, and caregiver stress. Laverne also addresses issues such as impulsivity, career uncertainty, and multicultural concerns.

Work is offered in English and can be scheduled online by video, phone, live chat, or text messaging. People seeking therapy begin by completing a short matching questionnaire and scheduling according to availability.

How Laverne Uses Common Approaches Online

Client-centered therapy puts the client’s goals at the center of each session and focuses on listening, reflecting, and helping the person identify their own solutions. This approach is useful for people who want a supportive space to sort out feelings and decide next steps.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and uses straightforward exercises to change unhelpful patterns. It often helps with anxiety, depression, stress, sleep problems, and managing impulses by teaching specific coping skills.

Mindfulness therapy brings attention to the present moment and teaches brief practices that can reduce reactivity and improve focus. It pairs well with CBT to help people notice patterns before they escalate.

Finding the right mix of methods is collaborative. The therapist will work with each person to try approaches that match their goals and preferences, adjust techniques as needed, and check progress together over time.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexible options. Video is useful for more in-depth work and real-time feedback, phone works when bandwidth is limited, live chat and text are helpful for quick check-ins or when a shorter, written format fits a busy day. These formats make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or travel schedules while keeping the focus on practical tools and measurable progress.