Susan Johnston, LMFT

Susan Johnston is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, practicing as an LMFT licensed in Indiana and California. She returned to school as an adult and has built a diverse clinical background working with individuals, couples, and families across office settings, residential and group homes, inpatient mental health care, intensive outpatient programs, probation services, and college counseling environments. With eight years of experience, she approaches care with an appreciation for how life circumstances can shift and for when people may benefit from additional support.

Susan has training and experience in addiction treatment and enjoys helping people and their families rebuild confidence and a sense of possibility. She has worked with local community members as well as immigrant and refugee families, collaborating with professional interpreters when needed to make services accessible and respectful of different languages and cultures.

Her counseling philosophy blends humanistic and experiential perspectives with emotion-focused and cognitive interventions, all grounded in family systems theory. Susan emphasizes collaborative, individualized care - working together as a team to tailor treatment to each person or family and to help them reach their goals.

Approaches Rooted in Family Systems and Experiential Work

Susan uses a blend of family systems work and emotion-focused cognitive techniques to address relational patterns and individual symptoms. Family systems work examines how relationships and roles influence behavior and communication, which can help with conflict, parenting concerns, and couple dynamics. Emotion-focused cognitive approaches help people recognize and reframe unhelpful thoughts while processing emotions, often benefiting stress, anxiety, depression, and grief.

She also incorporates experiential and humanistic elements that emphasize present-moment feeling, personal strengths, and meaningful connection. These approaches can be useful for building self-esteem, exploring life changes, and addressing intimacy-related issues. Finding the right mix of strategies is part of the therapeutic process - Susan collaborates with each client to identify what fits best based on needs, goals, and personal preferences.

Online therapy with Susan is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, giving clients flexibility to choose how they meet. These options can make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, maintain continuity of care through life transitions, and access support from locations throughout Indiana.