01 · Who Stefanie works with

Stefanie works with stress, Anxiety, trauma and abuse and self esteem

Stefanie lists 14 specialisms and 17 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Stefanie chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Stefanie's own words

What Stefanie says about the work

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

Welcome, and thank you for being here to learn more about me to see if we could be a good fit to work together! My name is Stefanie and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Wisconsin. I have over 10 years of experience working in the mental health field and have worked in a variety of settings, including inpatient hospital, Intensive Outpatient programs, in-home therapy, case management programs and outpatient therapy. All that means is that I have a wide variety of experience that has allowed me to see and work with a wide range and severity of clinical issues. Much of my experience is working with depression, anxiety, complex trauma, PTSD and severe and persistent mental illness, like schizophrenia. Throughout the course of working with those particular mental health issues, I also have worked with family and relationship conflicts and anger issues.

My desire to pursue a career in the mental health field began in my senior year of high school and I stayed with that path all throughout my undergraduate and graduate education. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (go Blugolds!) and my Master's degree in Educational Psychology - Community Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After I completed my undergraduate degree, I worked for about one year for the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare as a case manager for families involved in the foster care system. I learned quickly in that job while making referrals for the families on my caseload for mental health services that I wanted to be the person receiving those referrals. I have experienced first-hand mental health issues in my own family and understand how challenging it can be coping with these issues for the person struggling and their loved ones. I also have seen how much life can improve for people when they find the support they need and can begin to take better care of themselves. Despite so much effort to eliminate it, the stigma around mental health remains and I believe that being able to access support online can reach so many more people who want to take steps toward taking better care of themselves. I recently took a few years away from outpatient therapy to be at home with my young, growing family and I think that utilizing online counseling is the perfect fit right now for me and my family.

I use a holistic, person-centered, eclectic approach to my work, meaning I will meet you where you are at and tailor my approach to your needs. My treatment approach is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has been strongly influenced by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I also utilize mindfulness techniques, values based therapy and solution focused therapy. I am also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming) for working with people who have experienced trauma. If you are looking for someone to give advice or tell you what to do, I am not your person. I believe in facilitating a conversation that leads you to discovering how you can best cope with, manage and overcome the struggles you have. That sounds like a little “tough love” and I do have that side of me, but I also come from a place of empathy and warmth that helps to foster that conversation to be supportive and effective. I believe that mental health is as important as physical health, and just like it can take time to see positive changes in our physical health and wellness, I believe that mental health requires the same consistency and patience to see positive changes.

I look forward to working with you and thank you again for taking the time to get to know me a little better.

Stefanie Johnson, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Stefanie works

The 8 approaches Stefanie lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Stefanie lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Stefanie'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 Stefanie 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.

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.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR

A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.

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.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Stefanie 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 Stefanie'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 Stefanie at this point.

2. Naming Stefanie specifically

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

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

3 questions worth asking Stefanie

Built from what Stefanie actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Stefanie's - Stefanie 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.

• “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

LPC

Licensed in

Wisconsin

Licence

WI LPC 4004-125

Licence number

4004-125

Licence expires

28 Feb 2027

NPI

1568694230

Years in practice

14

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Stefanie'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 9 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 Stefanie. 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.