Stephanie D. Smith is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling from Capella University and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Longwood University in Farmville, VA. She has experience with Autism Spectrum Disorder, OCD, ADHD, anxiety disorders, depression, Bipolar Disorder, self-esteem issues and troubles coping with the chaos and stressors that life presents to us at any moment. In addition to working with adults, Stephanie also works with children and adolescents.
Stephanie firmly believes that we have a choice in how we respond to events that happen, and that we are not doomed to circumstance. Because of this, there is hope. Stephanie uses a variety of modalities in her therapeutic interventions, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Exposure Response Prevention, Inference-Based CBT, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and borrows techniques from Dialectical Behavior Therapy including mindfulness, emotion regulation skills, and distress tolerance skills. Regardless of techniques, Stephanie believes the most important part of therapy, and the biggest predictor of change, is the therapeutic relationship and established rapport.
Stephanie’s foundation is rooted in the belief that human beings are doing the best they can with what they know and what they have been given in life. Even with maladaptive coping skills, people engage in them because they work. Stephanie comes from a warm, nonjudgmental and validating stance and is very person-centered. She loves helping clients reframe the negative stories they tell themselves, and foster more constructive coping skills. Just as we learn these unhealthy coping mechanisms, the good news is we can unlearn them too, and relearn healthy ways of being in the world and coping with what life brings.