Deidra Bentley, LPC

Approaches for Meaning and Everyday Skills Online

Existential Therapy helps people examine big life questions like purpose, identity, and values. It can be useful when someone feels empty, stuck, or uncertain about who they want to be. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, teaches skills to notice thoughts and feelings without getting pushed around by them, and then take actions that match your values; it often helps with anxiety, depression, and life transitions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on spotting unhelpful thought patterns and changing behaviors that keep problems going. It is practical and action-oriented, useful for anxiety, depression, and habit change. These approaches can be mixed so therapy matches what the person needs rather than following a single template.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk through your goals and preferences and adjust methods as you go. That means starting with a plan, checking in often, and shifting tools if something isn’t working.

Online therapy offers flexibility in how sessions happen. Video calls let you work face-to-face from different locations, phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a work break, live chat provides a real-time but typed option, and text messaging supports brief check-ins or reflection between sessions. These formats make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, caregiving, or other life demands.