Bridget Stevens-Murphy , LICSW

Bridget Stevens-Murphy is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW), a credential that indicates advanced clinical training and independent practice in social work. She earned a Master of Social Work degree with a specialization in children and families from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002 and has worked in a range of domestic and international settings. Her approach is grounded in strength-based, relational, holistic, and person-centered practice, with an emphasis on helping individuals and families understand themselves and build more enlivening, meaningful relationships.

She brings warmth and a steady presence to therapeutic work, aiming to create a space where people feel comfortable, supported, and empowered to explore change. Her clinical interests include adoption and attachment issues, relationship and intimacy concerns, infertility and fertility-related stress, anxiety and depression, trauma and abuse, grief, parenting and blended family challenges, caregiver stress, and compassion fatigue. Bridget is a Trust-Based Relational Intervention practitioner and has training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which informs her work with complex family and trauma-related concerns.

She offers messaging, live chat, and phone sessions with limited evening and weekend availability, and typically checks messages twice each day, seven days a week. Bridget seeks to collaborate with each person to identify strengths and practical pathways forward while honoring their lived experience.

Attachment and Cognitive Approaches for Online Care

Attachment-Based Therapy centers on relational patterns formed early in life and explores how those patterns affect current relationships and emotional responses - it can be especially helpful for attachment issues, adoption and foster care concerns, and family relationship challenges. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, offering practical strategies to manage anxiety, depression, and stress through skill-building and problem solving. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a respectful, nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship in which the therapist follows the client's lead and supports personal growth and self-understanding.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Bridget works with each person to identify which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adapts techniques over time as the work unfolds. This collaborative stance helps ensure therapy aligns with what matters most to the client.

Online therapy options such as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging can make it easier to access care amid busy schedules, geographic constraints, or mobility limits. These formats provide flexibility in timing and communication style while allowing licensed professionals to offer consistent therapeutic support tailored to each person's life.