About Catherine
Catherine Brenen is a licensed master social worker (LMSW) in Michigan with 16 years of experience in mental health care. She helps people face everyday stress and anxiety, as well as longer-term struggles like depression, addiction, trauma, grief, and life changes. Her manner is warm and direct, and she brings steady support to people who feel stuck or overwhelmed.
She uses respect, empathy, and positive regard as a foundation for work together.
Background and approach
Catherine names faith in God as part of what guides her practice, and she avoids judgment or fear-based approaches. Conversations focus on what matters to the client and on practical next steps to improve day-to-day life. Her work blends several methods in plain terms.
She draws on client-centered ideas to follow the client’s priorities, cognitive-behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and dialectical skills to balance acceptance with change. Motivational interviewing helps when someone feels stuck about making changes. Catherine adapts conversations and treatment plans to each person.
That can mean short-term problem solving or deeper therapy for issues like trauma, relationship strain, caregiving stress, or aging-related concerns. She aims for clear goals and realistic steps rather than vague promises. People who want a compassionate, straightforward approach often find her style helpful.
She invites anyone ready to try therapy to take the first step and schedule a session.
Approaches that translate to online care
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It teaches concrete skills to reduce anxiety, change unhelpful thinking, and build new habits. Many people use CBT for stress, panic, worry, and mood difficulties.Dialectical Behavior Therapy emphasizes skills for managing intense emotions and improving relationships. It offers practical tools for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and clearer communication, which can help with anger, relationship strain, and impulsive behaviors.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will listen to goals, test what helps, and adjust methods together. That means trying techniques, checking what feels useful, and shaping a plan that fits the client’s needs and preferences.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make care more flexible. Video is helpful for deeper conversation and skill practice, phone works well when bandwidth is limited, and messaging or live chat can fit shorter check-ins or quick support between sessions. These options let people fit therapy around work, caregiving, or travel while keeping continuity of care.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 16 years
- Licensed
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
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