Amy Carnes , LMFT

Amy Carnes brings more than 11 years of clinical experience to her work supporting individuals, couples, and families through life transitions and emotional challenges. She understands that taking initial steps toward change can feel overwhelming, and she aims to offer a steady, informed presence while clients navigate grief, relationship strain, parenting difficulties, and other stressors. Throughout the therapeutic process she emphasizes transparency so people know what to expect and can feel engaged in their care.

Amy holds a Master of Science in Psychology from California Polytechnic State University and is an LMFT - a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, which indicates specialized training to work with individuals, couples, and families. She is licensed to practice in both California and Wisconsin. Her clinical background includes work with relationship concerns, grief and other losses, anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, low self-esteem, addiction, and prenatal and postpartum issues including parenting challenges.

Amy primarily uses client-centered and cognitive behavioral approaches, adapting methods to fit each person or family. She takes a collaborative stance, helping people identify goals, build practical skills, and make meaningful changes. She offers sessions by video call, phone, live chat, and in-app messaging to accommodate differing needs and schedules.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Amy often draws on client-centered therapy, which focuses on empathic listening and building a trusting, nonjudgmental relationship so clients can explore values, emotions, and goals at their own pace. This approach is helpful for people navigating grief, life changes, or self-esteem concerns.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a practical method that helps identify unhelpful thinking patterns and develop concrete skills to manage anxiety, mood concerns, and stress. CBT is goal-oriented and tends to include homework and skill practice between sessions.

For relationship work she incorporates the Gottman Method, which emphasizes communication patterns, emotional connection, and problem-solving strategies to improve closeness and reduce conflict.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process - Amy collaborates with each person or couple to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adjusts strategies as progress unfolds.

Offering video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, online therapy with a licensed professional provides flexibility for busy schedules, reduced travel time, and the ability to engage from familiar environments. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care while addressing practical constraints and changing needs.