About Nancy
Nancy Benner is a licensed clinical social worker based in Oregon with 24 years of experience. She helps people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship strain, addiction concerns, and major life changes. Her style is warm and direct, aimed at making sessions feel practical and understandable for worried parents and busy adults.
She uses a person-centered way of working that begins by listening to what matters most to each client.
Background and approach
From there she blends techniques to match the situation, using cognitive behavioral tools to change unhelpful thoughts and dialectical skills to manage strong emotions. She also draws on mindfulness practices and relationship-focused methods when appropriate. Nancy emphasizes simple, usable strategies.
Sessions often involve setting clear goals, practicing new communication skills, and learning coping techniques that can be applied between meetings. She keeps explanations plain and focuses on what people can try right away. Her background as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker - LCSW (Oregon LCSW L4333) informs a practical approach to care.
Over two decades in the field have exposed her to many kinds of challenges, from mood disorders to attachment issues and eating concerns. She adapts methods to each person rather than following one fixed formula. People who choose her work with someone who aims to be steady and straightforward.
She helps clients sort priorities, build skills, and handle setbacks. The goal is clearer thinking and more effective day-to-day coping.
Approaches that guide online sessions
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on understanding each person's experience and building on their strengths. It involves listening carefully, reflecting what is said, and helping people find their own solutions for stress, grief, or relationship strain.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It teaches practical skills to challenge unhelpful thinking and try new behaviors, which can help with anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, offers concrete skills for regulating strong emotions and improving relationships. It uses step-by-step tools like distress tolerance and emotion regulation that people can practice between sessions.
Nancy works collaboratively to find the best fit for each person. She will discuss goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t worked before. Together they decide which approaches to emphasize and adapt techniques as needs change.
Online therapy with video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging makes it easier to fit support into a busy life. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation, phone calls can require less bandwidth, live chat can be used for quick check-ins, and messaging supports shorter reflections or daily skill practice. These options give flexibility while keeping the focus on practical tools and steady progress.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Jealousy
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Traumatic brain injury
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 24 years
- Licensed
- Oregon
- Languages
- English