About Stephen
Stephen Dexter is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) based in Maine with twelve years in the field. He combines direct experience with a straightforward, hope-focused style. He speaks plainly and aims to help people find practical next steps when life feels stuck.
He began his work providing in-home counseling for families with children ages 6 to 16, then moved into intensive substance use and co-occurring disorders. That background includes one-on-one work, couples support, and group counseling.
Background and approach
He draws on his own recovery experience to connect with people facing addiction and relapse challenges. Stephen uses a mix of approaches to match what each person needs. He leans on client-centered conversations to build trust and on cognitive behavioral tools to change unhelpful thinking.
Mindfulness and dialectical strategies are used to manage strong emotions and build everyday coping skills. Sessions often focus on clear, manageable goals. People bring issues like depression, anxiety, stress, relationship strain, parenting struggles, eating concerns, and career uncertainty.
He also addresses attachment and family-of-origin patterns that keep problems repeating. Stephen encourages people to explore spiritual resources when that fits their values. He emphasizes honest conversation, steady encouragement, and concrete strategies to try between sessions.
He helps clients map small steps that add up to meaningful change.
Online approaches that meet you where you are
Stephen blends client-centered therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy in online sessions. Client-centered therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and building trust so people can name what matters to them. Cognitive behavioral therapy looks at how thoughts and behaviors link to distress and teaches practical skills to change patterns that cause problems.He also uses dialectical behavior therapy techniques for emotion regulation and coping during intense moments. DBT skills help people manage strong feelings, improve communication, and reduce impulsive actions. Together these approaches aim to give both understanding and usable tools for day-to-day life.
Finding the right fit is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t worked before to tailor an approach. Clients and therapist adjust methods over time so work stays focused and useful.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, and text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video is useful for deeper conversation and visual cues, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, live chat offers a shorter check-in, and messaging supports ongoing coaching between sessions. These options help people fit therapy into work, family, and travel schedules.
Questions people ask
What concerns does Stephen commonly address?
What is his therapeutic style like?
How much experience does he have?
What credential does he hold and where does he practice?
Which languages are sessions offered in?
What session formats are available?
How does pricing and payment work?
How do I begin working with him?
What this counselor works with
Most often
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 12 years
- Licensed
- Maine
- Languages
- English