Susan Van Wazer, LPC

Susan Van Wazer is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 30 years of clinical experience. She blends a family systems theoretical perspective with cognitive behavioral strategies to help people understand how longstanding patterns and relationships influence their current challenges. Her work emphasizes identifying the often-unseen dynamics that keep individuals stuck and supporting practical change toward healthier functioning.

Susan has extensive experience helping survivors of traumatic childhood experiences whose past continues to affect daily life. She works with individuals, couples, families, youth, and LGBQ clients on concerns such as stress, anxiety, relationship and family struggles, depression, addictions, grief, parenting, career questions, bipolar disorder, and compassion fatigue. Additional areas of focus include codependency, life purpose, midlife transitions, post-traumatic stress, social anxiety, and women’s issues.

Across her career she has developed programs, supervised other therapists, and managed administrative responsibilities including grants and events. Having lived in both large metropolitan and small town settings, she brings a broad perspective to practice. Susan looks forward to collaborating with new clients to explore goals and create meaningful change.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Support

Susan Van Wazer integrates client-centered therapy with cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness-based ideas to support online clients. Client-centered therapy focuses on creating an accepting, empathetic environment where the therapist follows the client’s lead and helps them explore values, goals, and identity changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) identifies unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and offers practical strategies to shift those patterns, which can help with anxiety, depression, and day-to-day stress. Mindfulness therapy teaches present-moment awareness and coping skills that reduce reactivity and build resilience, useful for trauma-related symptoms, stress, and emotional regulation.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Susan works with each person to assess needs, preferences, and goals, and adapts methods over time so the therapeutic plan fits the individual. Clients are involved in deciding which tools and strategies feel most helpful.

Online sessions by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging add flexibility for busy schedules and for those in different locations. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care, try different session formats, and access support from wherever a client is able to engage with a licensed professional.