About Susan
Susan Van Wazer is a licensed professional counselor with 30 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who feel stuck by the patterns that hold them back. She offers a calm presence and practical steps so clients can move toward the changes they want.
She combines client-centered listening with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to address thoughts and habits that maintain distress. She also draws on existential ideas to help people find meaning during life transitions.
Background and approach
Mindfulness techniques are used to build attention and reduce reactivity. Susan has worked in many roles over her career, including program development and clinical supervision. She has experience in both large city and small town settings across the country.
That range informs a flexible approach that fits different life rhythms. People often contact her about anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, family problems, grief, trauma, and issues around addiction or codependency. She also supports those facing career shifts, midlife questions, or struggles with self-esteem and purpose.
Sessions focus on clear goals, step-by-step strategies, and learning new ways to respond to old triggers. The work is collaborative - the client’s priorities guide each session. Susan accepts international clients and provides services from her base in Missouri.
How Susan’s Approaches Work Online
Susan uses Client-Centered Therapy to create a space where clients feel heard and can set their own priorities. That approach helps people clarify what matters most and guides the pace of change.She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and shift everyday behaviors. CBT is practical and goal-focused, which can help with anxiety, depression, relationship patterns, and coping with life changes.
Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Susan discusses goals and preferences and then tries methods that fit the client’s needs. She adjusts techniques over time so sessions stay relevant and effective.
Online therapy offers flexibility in how people connect. Video calls let the therapist and client work face to face. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging suit quick updates, reflection between sessions, or people who prefer writing instead of speaking.
These formats make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, to maintain continuity during transitions, and to try different ways of engaging with the work.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family problems
- Grief
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Missouri
- Languages
- English