About Juanita
Dr. Juanita McGowan is a licensed clinical social worker with four decades of practice. She brings a warm, encouraging presence and a focus on practical steps people can use to feel more grounded.
Her work often addresses stress and anxiety alongside grief, depression, and self-esteem concerns. She favors straightforward, goal-oriented sessions where clients set clear objectives. Sessions can include mindfulness practices to calm the mind and cognitive techniques to change unhelpful thought patterns.
Background and approach
Motivational interviewing and solution-focused work are used to build momentum and identify small, manageable changes. Her background includes a Bachelor and Master of Social Work from the University of Kansas and a Doctor of Philosophy in Adult and Continuing Education from Kansas State University. She has worked in counseling, coaching, teaching, consulting, and administration across many settings.
That experience informs a practical approach to everyday problems. Dr. McGowan respects clients' values and can integrate faith into sessions when desired.
She encourages people to draw on their own strengths and life experience while exploring options and next steps. The tone in sessions is positive, direct, and focused on measurable progress. People reach out for help with relationships, family concerns, addictions, anger, ADHD, caregiving stress, chronic illness, and life transitions.
Her practice also includes work related to aging, hospice and end-of-life concerns, workplace strain, and issues tied to cultural identity and multicultural concerns.
Practical approaches for online therapy and daily life
Dr. McGowan uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify and shift thought patterns that feed anxiety and depression. CBT focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and offers concrete steps to reduce worry and avoidant habits.She also incorporates Mindfulness Therapy to teach simple attention and breathing practices. Mindfulness helps with stress, rumination, and managing strong emotions by training awareness of the present moment.
Finding the right mix of methods is collaborative. The therapist will work with each person to choose approaches that match their goals, needs, and preferences. Sessions may shift over time as needs change and progress is made.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for face-to-face conversation and exercises, phone sessions can fit into a busy day or when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text sessions work well for brief check-ins or ongoing support. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or travel schedules while keeping the focus on practical change.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Multicultural concerns
- Relationship issues
- Self-love
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 40 years
- Licensed
- Kansas
- Languages
- English
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