Stephen (Steve) Yates, LMFT

Stephen (Steve) Yates is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 35 years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship strain, trauma, and grief. He offers practical support for issues like self-esteem, anger, bipolar mood challenges, and intimacy-related concerns. He also works with people coping with parenting stress, separation, addiction, and life changes.

Steve uses a mix of approaches to match each person’s needs, including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment techniques, and client-centered work. He emphasizes clear ideas and steps you can try between sessions. Sessions aim to be straightforward and focused on what helps you function better day to day.

His background includes a wide range of settings from inpatient and outpatient care to work with couples and relationship challenges. He has additional experience in spiritual counseling and hypnotherapy, and he has trained as a hostage negotiator. That variety influences how he looks for solutions and responds to complex situations.

Steve works with both mild and more severe mental health issues. He says he doesn’t have all the answers but brings fresh methods and different ways of looking at problems. Many people find that trying a few new strategies helps them move forward.

Steve practices in Idaho and offers sessions in English. He accepts international clients and provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs.

Practical approaches for online therapy

Steve frequently uses cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors to reduce anxiety, depression, and obsessive patterns. CBT gives concrete tools to try between sessions and tracks small changes over time.

He also draws on acceptance and commitment therapy, which helps people notice difficult feelings without getting stuck and reconnect with what matters to them. ACT can be useful for managing stress, chronic worry, and life transitions by clarifying values and taking committed action.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, try methods that fit your needs, and adjust the plan based on what helps. That collaborative process makes it easier to focus on practical steps that suit your life.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video calls let you talk face to face, phone can be a quicker option when bandwidth is limited, and text or chat can work for brief check-ins or when writing helps you sort thoughts. These formats make it easier to schedule sessions around work, family, or travel and to keep momentum between meetings.