Stephanie Smedley (she/her)

I have worked with young women as young as 11 and women ages 50+ who struggle with body image issues, and the negative effects of sexism and gender inequality. I have worked with women who have been shamed for their size, their looks, their perspectives, and their relationships. I have extensive experience working with women who are mothers - working outside the home or not. I myself am a mother and had dealt with postpartum anxiety.

Most of my career as a clinical social worker has been centered on treating depression. I have worked with clients with active suicidal ideation, clients who self-harm as a means of coping, and clients who have stopped attending to their activities of daily living. Depression holds open the door for cognitive distortions: I'm not good enough. No one will ever love me. Things will never get better. Changing our thought patterns requires a lot of work, but it can be done.

In working with adolescents ages 11-17 I often refer to anxiety as a monster who is always hungry. The anxiety feeds off of elaborative, worst-case scenario thinking. The anxiety creates scenarios that fuel more negative thinking, more worrying, more distraction from one's own life in order to keep itself going. Mindful self-compassion and mindfulness meditation exercises are invaluable in managing anxiety. I also utilize mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques in my practice.

Psychodynamic therapy allows my clients to work through their own history to help gain a better understanding of their current behaviors and approaches to situations and relationships. My patience and empathy allow me to take that "deep dive" in talk therapy that many other therapists are unwilling or unable to take. Understanding one's own motivations helps promote more honest, open, and fulfilling ways of living.

My experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy began while working as a crisis counselor in 2017. No matter a person's age, the basics of CBT can be employed rather simply. In a crisis, more of a direct approach is necessary to help mitigate the crisis as soon as possible, but in weekly sessions there is much more time to practice examining the relationship between thoughts - feelings - behaviors.

My experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy began while working as a crisis counselor in 2017. No matter a person's age, the basics of CBT can be employed rather simply. In a crisis, more of a direct approach is necessary to help mitigate the crisis as soon as possible, but in weekly sessions there is much more time to practice examining the relationship between thoughts - feelings - behaviors.

My experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy began while working as a crisis counselor in 2017. No matter a person's age, the basics of CBT can be employed rather simply. In a crisis, more of a direct approach is necessary to help mitigate the crisis as soon as possible, but in weekly sessions there is much more time to practice examining the relationship between thoughts - feelings - behaviors.