01 · Who Steven works with

Steven works with stress, Anxiety, family conflicts and parenting issues

Steven lists 12 specialisms and 11 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Steven chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Steven's own words

What Steven says about the work

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

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and trauma specialist with over 10 years of experience working with individuals experiencing varying levels of unwanted mental health obstacles. An office and couch was not my style to impact others, so I built my career coming to them, working with clients inside residential treatment, in-patient psychiatric, and in-home counseling with high risk families. By having worked for the high risk community, I can say not only have I heard "almost" all, but I've been there and carried some of the battle scars too. I've always preferred environments where I've had to give my best work but work fast with client's who did not have the time or patience for a more drawn out treatment.

It's been my desire to specialize with those clients who were dealt the most challenging of hands. I guess you can say those are my people. I'm accustomed to working in areas of depressive episodes, panic and anxiety, broken family relationships, life stressors, parenting issues, abnormal psychiatric, spiritual issues, and traumatic experiences.

While I may utilize multiple evidence based treatment strategies, inner healing doesn't come in a box, and is different for everyone. I believe the best therapy is done through having as much first hand experience in the trenches with what it is that we are working on. Some wisdom can only be gained by experiencing.

Is this counseling or therapy? Counseling may look like just casual chatting back and forth via messaging as some seem to prefer to have a second party help them look at their life. For others focusing on more significant distresses, therapy could consist of the traditional order: a more comprehensive session to identify the sometimes hidden roots of the problem (what sustains it) and then at your readiness some live sessions to begin the work to promote your mind and body Healing, Our Head is still attached to our body, so for some it may be necessary to take re-ownership of both components.

But you may be thinking: Therapy doesn't really work, I'm not a mushy feelings type of person... You're in good company; We're just re-learning balance. You used to have it! Finding again that place of optimal functioning. If your mind rattled your world enough to get you to even consider therapy, it's more likely you have a talent for a very strong mind, but you may just need to learn to control your power.

Our professional relationship and your trust in my care for people and confidence to help them overcome, I hold as my greatest skills.

Steven Van Schaick, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Steven works

The 5 approaches Steven lists, in plain English

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

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.

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

Steven 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 Steven'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 Steven at this point.

2. Naming Steven specifically

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

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

2 questions worth asking Steven

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

• “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

LCSW

Licensed in

North Carolina

Licence

NC LCSW C009591

Licence number

C009591

Licence expires

2 Jul 2027

NPI

1174913883

Years in practice

10

Gender

Male

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Steven'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 Steven. 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.