01 · Who Denise works with

Denise works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and family conflicts

Denise lists 16 specialisms and 20 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Denise chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Denise's own words

What Denise says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Hello!

Congratulations for your willingness to reach out to the BetterHelp community! Change and peace of mind are absolutely possible to achieve and therapy is a helpful and effective way to reach your goals. I understand the importance of picking a therapist you can relate to and who possesses the experience and skill set that will work best for you.

My name is Denise Stuntzner and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in Oregon (since 2006), currently working with a small private practice in rural Oregon. I have a total of 25 years providing psychotherapy for a wide variety of issues and populations, though I have worked in multiple areas of human services since 1984. I graduated from Portland State University in 1990 with a Master in Social Work. For the first 9 years, I worked for a child & family mental health research institute and in a domestic violence agency. While raising my 2 sons for the next 20+ years, I returned to clinical practice in child & family mental health, rehabilitation, hospice, medical settings, and child welfare. Specifically, I worked for 10 years with the Coquille Indian Tribe as their Wellness Program Coordinator, assisting tribal members and employees on health improvement strategies and then as a Qualified Mental Health Professional for Bay Area Hospital, mostly on the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit and conducting emergency psychiatric evaluations in the ED. For 3 years after that, I worked as an Integrated Behavioral Health Clinician at our area's largest outpatient medical clinic, primarily with patients in Internal Medicine, Family Practice and OB. I have also served as a Field Instructor for the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University and am also a state-certified Clinical Supervisor for those in the process of getting their LCSW.

On a side note, I am an accomplished competitive swimmer: a former Big 10 Champion & record holder in the 100 & 200 Butterfly events, NCAA All American, and a 2014 Masters World Champion. I continue to swim, love to ski and travel. I enjoy time with my sons, pets and extended family.

My approach is active, straight-forward, goal-oriented, and client-centered. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). Both modalities are hands-on, practical approaches to problem-solving. I often intertwine Mindfulness practices and neuroscience into my interventions. CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns and behaviors. The goals are to identify barriers or cycles and create a plan together to change patterns of thinking or behavior that underlie difficult situations and affect a person's functioning at work or home, and in relationships. This helps people address patterns of coping, reacting and thinking that are no longer helpful and to learn to live better with life's full variety of stressors. With Covid2019 a part of our reality now, stress is a bigger problem than ever.

Difficult and painful times are part of the human experience, but they don't have to rule a person's life. Seeking help can be a vulnerable step to take. Exploring the healing process or enriching one’s personal growth requires establishing rapport and trust. Change is not easy, but it is possible. It would be my honor to work with you.

Denise Stuntzner, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Denise works

The 5 approaches Denise lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Denise lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Denise's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Denise runs a session.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Denise practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Denise's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Denise at this point.

2. Naming Denise specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Denise is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Denise.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Denise

Built from what Denise actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Denise's - Denise has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 22 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

Oregon

Licence

OR LCSW L3811

Licence number

L3811

Licence expires

30 Oct 2027

NPI

1245271246

Years in practice

22

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Denise's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Denise. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.