About Valerie
Valerie Engel offers steady, practical support for people facing stress, addiction, relationship strain, sleep problems, or shifts in life circumstances. She listens closely and helps clients notice their strengths. Sessions are aimed at building everyday skills and clearer thinking so people can feel more in control.
Valerie draws on 18 years of clinical experience that began in addiction and recovery counseling and expanded into broader mental health care. She brings a down-to-earth style and uses approaches that focus on what helps in daily life.
Background and approach
She is licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor and as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington and Colorado, which informs her practice. In sessions she helps people challenge negative thinking patterns and develop communication skills. Valerie teaches stress reduction techniques and works on practical strategies for sleep, self-esteem, and coping with trauma or loss.
She also addresses career stress, caregiver strain, and compassion fatigue. Her work often includes skill building - such as problem solving, managing triggers, and planning steps toward recovery from substance concerns. She uses elements of cognitive behavioral methods and client-centered listening to tailor steps to each person.
People who want straightforward tools, steady listening, and help making changes one step at a time may find her approach helpful. Valerie practices in Washington and speaks English.
How Valerie’s approaches work online
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and supporting each person where they are. The therapist follows the client's lead, reflects feelings, and helps people tap into their own strengths to solve problems and make choices. This approach is useful for building self-esteem and handling relationship or identity concerns.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It helps people notice and change unhelpful thinking patterns and learn concrete skills for managing anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and addictive behaviors. CBT often includes short exercises and homework to practice between sessions.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Valerie will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She adapts strategies over time based on what is helping and what needs more focus.
Online sessions offer practical flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is useful for face-to-face conversation and demonstrating techniques. Phone sessions can be a good choice when bandwidth is limited or when a person prefers not to be on camera. Live chat or text messaging can support quick check-ins, shorter coaching-style exchanges, and ongoing skill practice between appointments. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and maintain momentum between meetings.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Addictions
- Sleeping disorders
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Avoidant personality
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 18 years
- Licensed
- Colorado, Washington
- Languages
- English