About Penny
Penny Gifford is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with 30 years of clinical experience in California. She focuses on helping adults who are coping with stress, anxiety, addictions, mood concerns and life transitions. Penny aims to create a calm, collaborative space where people can learn new skills and make practical changes in daily life.
She works in clear, straightforward ways. Sessions often center on building coping tools, improving communication, and breaking patterns that cause distress.
Background and approach
Penny uses methods that encourage small steps and measurable progress so people can feel steady improvement over time. Her background includes long experience with grief, anger, family conflict, co-dependence, and mood disorders. She also supports people facing struggles with eating, sleeping, career stress, bipolar mood swings, and ADHD.
Those concerns are addressed alongside related issues such as attachment struggles, control problems, and substance use challenges. Penny draws on client-centered principles and practical therapies in session. That means the conversation starts where the person is, and the plan adapts as needs change.
She may use cognitive strategies to shift unhelpful thinking, skills from dialectical behavior approaches to manage strong emotions, or motivational techniques to support change. People who do best with Penny tend to want straightforward guidance and usable tools. She emphasizes collaboration and respect, helping clients find direction and steady routines that fit their everyday lives.
Approach choices that fit online therapy
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and responding to what each person needs. It helps people feel heard and guides sessions toward goals they set. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at patterns of thinking and behavior and teaches practical skills to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and tackle problems like sleep or eating concerns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and better interpersonal skills to manage strong feelings and relationship stress.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Penny will collaborate with each person to match methods to their needs and goals. Plans are adjusted as progress happens, and sessions include homework or practice when that helps carry change into daily life.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video is useful for in-depth sessions and skill coaching. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or for a simpler check-in. Live chat and text messaging are helpful for brief updates, quick problem solving, or maintaining momentum between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to keep regular contact while working toward steady change.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- 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 conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Colorado, Montana, California
- Languages
- English
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