Denise Stuntzner , LCSW

Denise Stuntzner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than two decades of experience offering psychotherapy in Oregon. She practices from a straightforward, goal-focused stance and aims to help people make changes that matter in daily life. Her manner is active and practical, and she works with many concerns related to stress, mood, relationships, and life transitions.

Denise draws on Client-Centered methods to build a respectful, collaborative relationship. She combines that with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Solution-Focused techniques to set clear goals and try steps that produce noticeable results. Mindfulness and basic neuroscience ideas are woven into sessions when they fit the client’s needs.

Her background includes work across medical, hospice, inpatient psychiatric, and community settings. That experience informs how she helps people manage everything from anxiety and depression to grief, trauma, and caregiving stress. She also supports those facing chronic illness, cancer-related concerns, and end-of-life issues.

Sessions typically focus on identifying unhelpful patterns, testing new behaviors, and building practical coping skills. Denise emphasizes simple, doable tools people can use between meetings. She aims to help clients gain more control over day-to-day struggles and improve how they function at home and work.

Outside the office, Denise competed in collegiate and masters swimming and remains active in sports and travel. Her life experience includes long-term work with community health programs and supervising new clinicians. She works in English and practices from Oregon.

How Denise Uses Evidence-Based Approaches Online

Denise frequently uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Solution-Focused Therapy in her work. CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, with practical steps to reduce anxiety, depression, and mood swings. Solution-Focused Therapy zeroes in on concrete goals and small changes that move a person toward what they want, which can be helpful for coping with life transitions and short-term problems.

She also draws on Client-Centered principles, which means sessions start from the client’s concerns and priorities. Finding the right mix of methods is a collaborative process. The therapist and client discuss goals, try approaches, and adjust the plan together as progress and preferences become clear.

Online therapy offers flexibility for people juggling work, family, or health needs. Video calls allow for face-to-face conversation when seeing expressions matters. Phone sessions work well when video bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in fits a busy day. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief updates, ongoing encouragement, or when someone prefers writing to speaking. These options make it easier to maintain regular contact and practice skills between sessions.