Wendi Makus, LPC

Wendi Makus is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Arkansas who brings a compassionate, whole-person approach to counseling. With a focus on seeing each individual beyond their symptoms, she integrates holistic, solution-focused, and trauma-informed methods to help people identify goals and make practical changes that improve overall well-being.

Her training includes trauma-informed modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a set of clinical tools designed to lessen the emotional impact of distressing past events. She is also certified in seed digging therapy (SD), a model adapted from an earlier approach developed in the 1990s called theophostic therapy. Seed digging therapy frames the heart like a garden, where painful experiences can plant "weeds" - negative beliefs such as feeling unloved or unimportant - and positive experiences can cultivate "flowers" - beliefs like belonging and self-worth. The work involves identifying the roots of those negative beliefs and using narrative and belief-focused techniques to develop healthier, alternate understandings of past events.

Wendi invites prospective clients to explore their goals and collaborate on the steps needed to move forward. She emphasizes a supportive, goal-oriented process aimed at helping people reach the other side of where they currently are.

Therapeutic Approaches Applied to Online Care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps clients clarify their values and take committed action toward a meaningful life, even when difficult thoughts and feelings are present; it is often useful for stress, anxiety, and coping with life changes. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on understanding early relational patterns and how they shape current connections, which can support healing in relationships, attachment issues, and patterns of intimacy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches practical skills to identify and reframe unhelpful thoughts and to build behavioral strategies that reduce symptoms like anxiety and depression.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Wendi works collaboratively with each person to explore which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and adapts her work as clients learn what helps them most.

Online work offers flexibility and accessibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, maintain continuity during transitions, and receive timely support from licensed professionals and therapists without added travel time.