About Penny
Penny Gifford is a licensed professional counselor with 30 years of experience helping people manage stress and anxiety. She holds an LPC and an LCPC and works from California. Penny focuses on practical skill-building so clients can make steady changes they notice in daily life.
Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. Sessions aim to be nonjudgmental and focused on what people want to change. Penny helps clients map small steps, practice new skills, and track progress between meetings.
Background and approach
She draws on approaches that emphasize what works in the moment. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people notice patterns of thinking and behavior and try different responses. Dialectical Behavior Therapy offers tools for emotion regulation and managing intense feelings.
Motivational Interviewing and Solution-Focused Therapy are used to clarify goals and find practical next steps. Client-Centered Therapy guides conversations so the client leads the pace and topics. These methods are combined to fit each person’s needs.
Penny has experience with a wide range of concerns including addictions, depression, grief, trauma and relationship problems. She also supports people coping with life transitions, sleep or eating struggles, and issues around self-esteem and body image. Her approach is to keep things simple and useful.
People choosing her for anxiety work can expect clear strategies, steady support, and a focus on realistic changes they can use between sessions.
Practical approaches for anxiety and online care
Client-Centered Therapy is built around the person in front of the therapist, letting the client's concerns and pace guide sessions while the therapist listens and reflects. This approach helps people feel heard and in charge of their goals. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches concrete exercises to change unhelpful patterns; it is often used for anxiety, depression, and sleep or eating issues.Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, offers skills for managing intense emotions, coping with distress, and improving interpersonal effectiveness. Together these methods give both tools and a collaborative process where the therapist and client decide what to try first based on current needs and goals.
Penny will work with each person to find the best mix of approaches and adjust plans as progress is made. That means goals, preferences, and what feels manageable shape the therapeutic path rather than any single method being fixed from the start.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions let people use visual cues and a fuller conversation. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or for quick check-ins. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief updates, homework coordination, or when regular short contact helps maintain momentum. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and try approaches that match how someone prefers to communicate.
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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