Valerie Engel

Valerie Engel is an LPC, Licensed Professional Counselor, and an LMHC, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, with 18 years of clinical experience in Washington and Colorado. She works with adults coping with addiction, depression, sleep problems, low self-esteem, relationship struggles, trauma, and the kinds of career and life changes that leave people feeling stuck. Valerie also helps people dealing with compassion fatigue and intimacy-related issues.

Her approach is straightforward. She listens and helps people identify strengths they can use right away. Valerie teaches practical skills and strategies to manage stress, change thinking patterns, and build better communication. She uses methods from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and client-centered work to make change understandable and practical.

Valerie’s background began in addiction and recovery counseling in 2007 and expanded into broader mental health therapy in 2017. That history informs how she handles co-occurring issues such as substance use and mood symptoms. She has experience with trauma, grief, codependency, divorce and separation, and life purpose concerns.

Clients can expect skill-building sessions that cover stress management, sleep strategies, and tools for emotional regulation. Valerie also uses motivational interviewing and mindfulness techniques when they fit the goals. She emphasizes hands-on practices people can try between sessions.

Her work includes focus areas like abandonment, body image, caregiver stress, dissociation, and aging issues. Valerie maintains licensure as an LPC in Colorado and an LMHC in Washington, and she conducts sessions in English.

How Valerie blends client-centered work and CBT online

Valerie uses Client-Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as central ways to help people make changes. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and building on a person’s existing strengths. It helps when someone needs space to talk through what matters and to find their own priorities.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at how thoughts influence feelings and actions. It involves learning specific techniques to challenge negative thinking and to practice different behaviors. This approach can be useful for depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and patterns that keep people feeling stuck.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will help decide which methods fit a person’s goals and preferences. That choice is collaborative and may shift as needs change.

For online sessions, confirm the available session formats before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce time spent traveling, and allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight. It can also let people use approaches like CBT homework between sessions more consistently. Ask about the specific session options offered when you schedule.