About Aileen
Aileen Barnhouse is a licensed mental health counselor with 17 years of experience helping people manage stress and anxiety. She supports adults who want clearer coping skills, better self-esteem, and help navigating life changes. She also has experience working with adults who have attention deficit disorder (ADHD).
Her approach is straightforward and collaborative. She treats the person, not just the problem, and begins by learning what matters most to each client.
Background and approach
She asks about strengths and everyday routines so sessions focus on practical steps that fit real life. Aileen commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which looks at how thoughts, behaviors, and feelings connect. She pairs that with client-centered methods that emphasize listening and adapting to each person’s needs.
Together these approaches aim to reduce anxiety, lift mood, and improve daily functioning. Sessions often include short, concrete tools to try between meetings. Homework might be keeping a simple record of thoughts and actions or testing a small change in behavior.
Over time these small steps add up to clearer choices and better coping when stress hits. Aileen practices in Iowa and works with people who want steady, practical help. She encourages honest conversation and gradual progress.
Her style is supportive and focused on skills people can use right away.
How Aileen's Approaches Work Online
Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and adjusting the process to each person's needs. In practice this means sessions begin by hearing the client's story and identifying what feels most important to change. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the connections between thoughts, behaviors, and feelings and uses simple exercises to test new ways of responding to stress and anxiety.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Aileen will talk with the client about goals and preferences and suggest techniques that fit the person's life. She checks in regularly and adapts recommendations based on what is helpful and what is not.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video allows face-to-face conversation for skill practice and feedback. Phone works well when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Chat and text let people send notes between sessions or use written tools when that feels easier. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy schedule while continuing to focus on practical skills and steady progress.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Avoidant personality
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Emptiness
- First responder issues
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 17 years
- Licensed
- Iowa
- Languages
- English
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