About Stephen
Stephen Richardson uses a practical, faith-informed approach to counseling. He is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with ten years of experience. Stephen focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, grief, depression, addiction, relationship struggles, and faith-related concerns.
He blends straightforward talk with tools from acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive behavioral approaches. Sessions often include tracking thoughts and actions, practicing mindfulness, and clarifying values to guide change. Stephen aims to help people develop habits that fit their daily life and spiritual commitments.
Background and approach
Stephen also draws on client-centered and emotionally-focused methods to deepen self-understanding. That means listening closely, reflecting what clients say, and helping them identify patterns in relationships and emotions. He uses dialectical behavior therapy skills when people need concrete strategies for managing intense emotions.
His background includes social work degrees from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Winthrop University. He holds licenses in North Carolina and South Carolina: NC LCSW C012054 and SC LISW-CP 13202. Those credentials reflect his professional standing as a social worker in those states.
Stephen works with many concerns tied to identity and life transitions, including LGBT issues, parenting stress, adoption and foster care topics, and grief after loss. He aims to meet people where they are and support steady progress toward goals they set for themselves.
People who choose Stephen can expect clear, faith-aware guidance, practical exercises to practice between sessions, and a steady focus on values and daily routines that help life feel more manageable.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, clarify personal values, and take small steps toward a meaningful life. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns through practical exercises and homework. It is often used for anxiety, mood concerns, and stress management.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, try different techniques, and adjust methods based on what helps. This shared decision-making helps tailor sessions to a person's needs and faith perspective when that matters.
Online therapy with Stephen is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video is useful for a full-session experience, while phone works well for shorter check-ins or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and messaging let people share updates or use brief coaching between sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, family, and travel schedules, and to practice skills where life actually happens.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- 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
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- North Carolina, South Carolina
- Languages
- English