Tonya Carpenter, LCSW

Tonya Carpenter is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) practicing in Montana. She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California with an emphasis in Military and Veterans Affairs, and she brings both clinical training and lived experience as a veteran to her work supporting service members and their families. Currently affiliated with Aware, she previously maintained a private practice for six years and spent three years providing counseling in a hospital clinical setting. Her background also includes work as a behavior intervention specialist for middle and high school students and supporting adults with disabilities.

Tonya uses a direct, upfront communication style balanced with warmth and a nonjudgmental stance. She views people as doing the best they can with the tools available rather than as broken items that need fixing. That perspective underpins her client-centered, strengths-based, and solution-focused work as she partners with clients to improve quality of life.

Her clinical focus includes trauma and military affairs, and she works with co-occurring disorders, substance use, PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, child abuse and neglect, communication and anger management, and other life stressors. Tonya integrates evidence-based practices such as motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy, and she holds certifications in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), MRT (moral reconation therapy), trauma-focused CBT, and trauma narratives. She aims to respond to messages within 24 hours Monday through Friday and strives to accommodate scheduling needs, noting limited evening and some weekend availability.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Tonya Carpenter draws on evidence-based therapies to address a range of concerns in online sessions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients identify and shift unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns; it is often used for anxiety, depression, and stress-related difficulties. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) emphasizes skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness, and can be helpful for intense emotions, relationship struggles, and self-regulation challenges. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early relationships influence current patterns and can support work on intimacy, trust, and family dynamics.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Tonya works with each person to understand their goals, history, and preferences, then tailors techniques so the plan fits the client’s needs rather than forcing a single method.

Online therapy with Tonya is offered through flexible formats - video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging - making it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, reduce travel time, and maintain continuity of care during life transitions. Licensed professionals can adapt these formats to deliver structured, goal-oriented work that supports progress over time.