Wendie Clemens

Hi, my name is Wendie Clemens. I’ll start out with giving you some information on my history and experience, then I’ll move on to explaining my approach to therapy. I have a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family therapy and I’ve been a licensed therapist for 20 years; I’m licensed through the state of Oklahoma as a Licensed Professional Counselor and my license number is 3401. I’ve worked with several different populations, providing outpatient individual, family, and group therapy to adults, children, and adolescents; providing individual and family therapy to children and adolescents in the foster care system and their birth families, as well as providing supportive services to the foster families; and providing individual and group therapy for court-involved persons. I have experience working with clients who sought treatment for problems related to anxiety, depression, trauma, bipolar disorder, substance use, family conflict, difficult relationships, issues related to changes in life, and other severe and chronic mental health issues. Over the last few years, I’ve also had extensive experience providing services through virtual means such as iPad, computer, phone, etc. so this service platform is comfortable for me. For 15 years of my career as a licensed therapist, I worked in community mental health; the majority of my clients there not only struggled with severe, life-long mental health issues but also struggled with other issues such as isolation, poverty, lack of resources, and the stigma of living with a mental illness. Working in that setting could be extremely demanding but those years played a significant role in my growth as a therapist (and a person) and the experience of serving those clients, as well as having the honor of sharing their lives, was overall richly rewarding for me. In my view, the relationship that develops between a therapist and client is part of the healing process and I do my best to develop and maintain a positive, healthy relationship with clients. You’re the one looking for help, so I look to you to determine what we discuss in therapy sessions, what you’d like to accomplish in therapy, and how you’ll know you’ve finished therapy. My part is to help you sort things out so you can see problems more clearly, understand yourself better, and feel more comfortable in making decisions about your life. I’m also here to help you find and learn different tools you can use to accomplish that. With that being said, I also recognize there will be times I may need to give you a little push to discuss something you’ve been avoiding, to express thoughts or feelings that may be difficult for you, or even to revisit your past in order to work through issues that may still be affecting you. All of that requires trust and a willingness to be vulnerable on your part, which is why I tend to emphasize the importance of the therapeutic relationship. Even though I value our relationship, I’m also human and I realize that I may misinterpret something you say, misunderstand what you’re trying to communicate, or unintentionally offend you or hurt your feelings. I don’t plan on this happening, but if it does, please let me know!! (No need to worry about being too blunt or hurting my feelings – I need to know these things so your therapy is helpful and it will help me grow and be a better therapist.) Most things we’ll be able to work through and that will help me understand you better – it can also help you as misunderstandings and unintentional slights happen in all relationships and you can use bumps in our relationship as practice in working things out in the “real world.” Regarding the technical side of things, I use tools and techniques primarily from Cognitive-Behavioral based therapies, Person-Centered Therapy, and I incorporate mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation tools from Dialectical Behavior Therapy. I’ll also throw this out – if at any point in our work together you find that we’re just not relating, you’ve gone as far as you can with me, or I’m just not the right therapist for you, don’t hesitate to discuss this with me as it will be no problem for you to be matched with another therapist that may be a better fit for you. This is just a general introduction so you have some feel for who I am and how I approach therapy; there is more specific information about meetings, confidentiality, etc. contained in the Informed Consent in the member information from already provided by the platform.