Paula Peterson, LPC

Paula Peterson is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 18 years of clinical experience. She uses a straightforward, person-centered style and draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and grief. Paula writes clearly and welcomes people who are wondering whether counseling might help them.

She believes reaching out for help takes courage and offers a calm, down-to-earth space to talk through struggles. Sessions focus on practical steps people can try between meetings, and on building the client’s own strengths to handle life’s challenges. Paula works with concerns like anger, coping with life changes, compassion fatigue, and addictions.

Her background includes a degree in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and many years in day treatment and outpatient settings. That experience shaped her approach to trauma, self-worth issues, life transitions, grief, and anger management. She also addresses workplace stress, relationship patterns, and family of origin issues.

Paula blends client-centered listening with tools from CBT, mindfulness, and solution-focused methods to create clear goals and doable steps. She also offers EMDR as one of her approaches for trauma work. Her style is collaborative and practical, aimed at helping people notice changes and keep moving forward.

If the way she describes her work sounds like a fit, Paula invites prospective clients to reach out and start the conversation about next steps.

Approaches that translate well to online care

CBT helps people examine unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. Online sessions can include talking through patterns, setting small homework goals, and checking progress between meetings. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding the person’s experience. That approach works over video or phone by giving people space to tell their story and feel heard. EMDR is a trauma approach that some therapists use to reduce distress linked to memories; in online work it may involve guided techniques adapted for remote sessions.

Choosing the best approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most useful, and then tailor methods to fit each person. This is a collaborative process where methods can be adjusted over time based on how the client responds.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let people use face-to-face interaction without travel. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging provide brief, timely support between sessions or for people who prefer typed communication. These options make it easier to fit counseling into a busy life while continuing to use structured tools and collaborative planning.