About Stephen
Dr. Stephen Bentley is a licensed professional clinical counselor with 32 years of experience who helps people facing anxiety, stress, addiction, depression, and grief. He works with adults on issues like relationship strain, parenting stress, ADHD, and challenges tied to trauma or life changes.
He practices from Kentucky and offers sessions in English and to international clients. He focuses on building a practical, working relationship. Sessions begin by listening to what matters most to the person seeking help.
Background and approach
He values respect, sensitivity, and compassion and avoids stigmatizing labels. Dr. Bentley blends several approaches to fit each person’s needs.
He uses client-centered methods to follow the person’s lead, cognitive behavioral ideas to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and attachment-focused work to look at core bonds that shape feelings. Mindfulness and emotionally focused ideas are also part of his toolbox. Over three decades he has worked in hospitals, run groups, done crisis intervention, supervised other clinicians, and directed a practice.
That background informs practical strategies for coping with addiction, trauma, chronic illness, and mood concerns including bipolar and disruptive mood symptoms. Online sessions became a regular part of his practice in recent years. He offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging so people can fit therapy into busy lives.
Starting is simple: complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule a first session.
How therapy approaches translate to online sessions
Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early bonds affect current relationships and emotional reactions; online work can use discussion and exercises to notice patterns and build new ways of relating. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on following the person’s pace, offering empathy and acceptance so the client sets the agenda and goals. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets specific thoughts and behaviors with practical exercises and skill practice that transfer well to video or messaging formats.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful. Together they will try methods and adjust as progress is reviewed, keeping the plan flexible and collaborative.
Online therapy offers practical benefits for busy lives. Video calls let people see facial cues and do structured exercises. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text-based messaging support quick reflection, between-session check-ins, or ongoing support without scheduling a full call. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, caregiving, or travel while using the approaches that best match each person’s needs.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed
- Kentucky
- Languages
- English
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