About Matthew
Matthew Dugan is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) based in South Carolina who helps people facing anxiety, phobias, addiction, depression, trauma, and relationship or family stress. He offers straightforward support for grief, anger, low self-esteem, career concerns, and major life changes. He also helps clients in the LGBT community with coming-out issues and gender dysphoria concerns.
He brings 23 years of experience to sessions and uses practical, evidence-informed methods. He listens first, then helps people set small, achievable steps toward change.
Background and approach
Sessions are focused and solution-oriented while staying respectful of each person’s pace. His approach draws on client-centered care, cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavior strategies, EMDR for trauma work, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing. Those tools are used to address avoidance, addictive patterns, overwhelming emotions, and distressing memories.
Matthew adapts methods to fit the person rather than following a single plan. People can expect clear language in sessions and exercises to practice between meetings. He works with issues such as abandonment, codependency, communication problems, divorce, domestic violence, and coping after disasters.
The goal is to reduce suffering and help people build a life they value. Matthew offers several online formats alongside scheduled live sessions. He aims to make care manageable for people juggling work, family, or health challenges.
He combines decades of practice with a practical, down-to-earth style.
Approaches that translate to online care
Client-centered therapy puts the person’s goals and experience first. The therapist listens closely, reflects what matters to the client, and helps set priorities for change. This approach supports people coping with anxiety, phobias, relationship problems, and life transitions.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It breaks problems into concrete steps and gives exercises people can use between sessions to reduce avoidance and anxious reactions. CBT is often used for anxiety, phobias, depression, and addictive patterns.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches skills for managing intense emotions and improving interpersonal effectiveness. It includes practical tools for distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and clearer communication, which can help with anger, relationship issues, and self-destructive behaviors.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss options, try techniques that match a person's needs, and adjust the plan based on what helps. Clients are invited to give feedback so sessions stay relevant and focused on their goals.
Online therapy with video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging lets people fit care around work and family commitments. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation when that is helpful. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier to fit into a break. Live chat and messaging offer shorter check-ins and ongoing contact between scheduled meetings. These options make it more practical to maintain steady progress.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 23 years
- Licensed
- South Carolina
- Languages
- English
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