01 · Who Judy works with

Judy works with stress, Anxiety, anger management and self esteem

Judy lists 14 specialisms and 15 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Judy chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Judy's own words

What Judy says about the work

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

I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with nearly two decades of experience - and someone who figured out relatively recently that I'd been navigating an undiagnosed neurodivergent brain my entire life. That changes how I work. Considerably.

I'm not practicing a neurodivergent-informed approach because it's a specialty I chose from a menu. It's the only kind of therapy I've ever actually known how to do.

How I think about the work

You are the active participant

You decide the direction. I bring the tools, the frameworks, and two decades of pattern recognition. You bring the expertise on your own life. Both are required.

Body and brain, not just thoughts

Your nervous system has been sending signals your whole life. We pay attention to what's happening in your body, not only what's running through your head.

Build, don't just process

Endless rumination on what's wrong keeps you stuck in the problem. I'm more interested in what you want to build and what's getting in the way of building it.

Try smarter, not harder

More willpower is almost never the answer. Better systems, better tools, better fit between your strategies and your actual brain - that's where the leverage is.

Training & specializations

Tools I've actually learned to use CBT, DBT, ACT

Evidence-based frameworks - adapted for neurodivergent nervous systems, not applied off the shelf.

IFS & EMDR

For working with the parts of you that are stuck, and the experiences that are still running in the background.

Nutrition & lifestyle for ADHD

Because what you eat, how you sleep, and how you move your body all affect how your brain runs.

The therapy experiences I'm the antidote to "Just try harder."

Effort is rarely the missing variable. If trying harder worked, you'd have solved this already. We're looking for smarter, not harder.

"Your diagnosis is your problem."

Neurodivergence is not a disorder to be fixed. It's a different operating system - with real strengths and real friction points. We work with it, not against it.

"Let's spend another hour on what's wrong."

Understanding the problem matters. But the goal is building something - a life that's sustainable and actually works for you. That's where we spend our energy.

"Here's the standard protocol. Follow it."

Every evidence-based tool I use gets adapted to the specific nervous system in front of me. Cookie-cutter approaches don't work for non-cookie-cutter brains.

"I'm the expert. You follow my lead."

You are the world's leading expert on your own experience. I have tools and frameworks. You decide the direction. Therapy here is a collaboration, not a prescription.

Judy Thomas, on the BetterHelp listing · read 8 Nov 2026

03 · How Judy works

The 6 approaches Judy lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Judy lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Judy'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 Judy runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

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.

Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT

A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.

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.

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.

Internal Family SystemsIFS

Treats the mind as made up of parts - the critic, the one who withdraws, the one that keeps everything running - each of which is trying to protect you. The work is getting to know them rather than overruling them.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Judy 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 Judy'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 Judy at this point.

2. Naming Judy specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Judy 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 Judy.

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 Judy

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

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Internal Family Systems. 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 25 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

LISW

Licensed in

Wisconsin

Licence

IA LISW 140137, IL LCSW 149.012127

Licence number

7933-123

Licence expires

28 Feb 2027

NPI

1578879730

Years in practice

25

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Judy'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 8 Nov 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 Judy. 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.