About Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn Downing is a Licensed Professional Counselor who helps people facing overwhelm and life change. She focuses on stress, anxiety, mood concerns, addiction, and relationship or family struggles. Her approach is practical and direct, aimed at helping clients feel steadier and more able to cope.
With 41 years of experience, she has worked in public agency settings and in independent practice. She has supported people referred in many ways, including self-referral and through workplace employee assistance programs.
Background and approach
That background gives her a broad view of common life challenges and how people move through them. In sessions she uses a mix of approaches to fit each person’s needs. She draws on cognitive behavioral ideas to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.
She also uses attachment-based and emotion-focused methods to improve closeness and communication in important relationships. Trauma-informed techniques are part of her toolkit for people who have experienced abuse or other traumatic events. She can also work with addiction, grief, parenting stress, and chronic health concerns.
Sessions aim to build coping skills, strengthen supports, and set realistic goals. Gwendolyn emphasizes collaboration and respect for each person’s strengths. She encourages steady steps and practical strategies rather than quick fixes.
She is based in Alabama and works in English.
How her approaches fit into online therapy
Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early bonds shape current relationships and reactions. Online sessions use discussion and exercises to help people understand attachment patterns and improve communication and closeness.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. In remote work, CBT often uses structured conversations and homework to change unhelpful thinking and build practical coping skills for anxiety, depression, and stress.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. In shorter phone check-ins or chat-based exchanges, DBT skills can be practiced and reinforced between longer video sessions.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will review your concerns and goals and suggest methods that fit your needs and preferences. This is a collaborative process where adjustments are made over time so the plan stays useful.
Online therapy offers flexibility for different schedules and needs. Video calls are best for deeper conversation and seeing facial cues, phone sessions work when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or text messaging can support quick check-ins or skill practice. These options let people balance therapy with work, family, or health demands while keeping the focus on practical progress.
Questions people ask
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What formats are used for sessions?
How does pricing and scheduling work?
What this counselor works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 41 years
- Licensed
- Alabama
- Languages
- English