Vanessa Martz, LPC

Vanessa Martz is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 28 years of experience. She draws on a long and varied career that includes time in science, the military, and higher education. Her background as a veteran, a parent by birth and adoption, and a long-time foster caregiver shapes how she listens. She names grief, loss, and life transitions as areas she often helps people face.

Clients can expect a direct and compassionate style. She blends practical tools from cognitive behavioral methods with grief-focused work and other approaches as needed. Sessions often include clear steps to manage stress, anxiety, anger, or relationship difficulties. Vanessa aims to help people feel more at peace with their daily choices.

Her life experience informs therapeutic priorities. Having navigated blended family dynamics and caregiving challenges, she understands complicated family histories and attachment concerns. She also notes personal experience with trauma and uses that background to empathize with others who have faced violence or loss.

Vanessa integrates spiritual questions into the process and identifies as a Christian and licensed pastor. She will invite exploration of spiritual beliefs as part of therapy, and says that people who do not wish to address spirituality may prefer a different therapist.

Her work emphasizes practical growth rather than forced change. She focuses on helping people reduce stress and anxiety, cope with grief, and reconnect to daily joy. Vanessa encourages collaboration and tailors methods to each person’s needs.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and responding to each person’s experience. It emphasizes respect, empathy, and working at the client’s pace, which can help with stress, self-esteem, and relationship concerns.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It offers concrete tools to manage anxiety, depression, and anger through practical exercises and skill building.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps people identify and change unhelpful emotional patterns in close relationships. It can be useful for addressing attachment issues, communication problems, and commitment concerns.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences. This conversation can include trying different techniques and adjusting the plan over time.

Confirm current session formats before booking since the profile does not list them. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy day, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. Talk with the therapist about what will work best for scheduling, session length, and whether to include spiritual or grief-focused elements in the plan.