Dr. Margaret "Betsy" Vonk , LCSW, CSW

Dr. Margaret "Betsy" Vonk is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Georgia with two decades of professional experience in counseling and social work education. She earned her MSW from Florida State University and a PhD in Social Work from the University of Georgia, and has spent more than 20 years teaching clinical social work to MSW students. Her practice has addressed a broad range of concerns including depression, anxiety, coping with life changes, retirement and aging, grief and loss, adoption and family of origin issues.

Dr. Vonk’s counseling approach is warm, nonjudgmental, and collaborative, rooted in a strengths-based perspective that helps people identify and build on existing resources. She incorporates cognitive behavioral techniques to teach practical social-emotional skills that can be practiced in therapy and applied to everyday life. Existential ideas are also a meaningful part of her work when questions of life meaning arise. Her early training included psychodynamic theory, and she personalizes each course of care to meet individual needs and goals.

Dr. Vonk holds the credentials LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) and CSW and is affiliated with Calls Creek Counseling LLC. Her work spans issues such as relationships, intimacy, parenting, caregiver stress, social anxiety, and compassion fatigue.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Counseling with Dr. Vonk

Dr. Vonk integrates client-centered therapy, which focuses on listening carefully, validating a person’s experience, and helping clients identify their own strengths and solutions - an approach that can be especially useful for coping with life transitions, grief, and relationship concerns. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a practical, skills-based method that helps people learn to identify and shift unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, often applied for stress, anxiety, depression, and phobias. Existential Therapy is used when questions of meaning, purpose, or life changes are central to a person’s struggles, supporting exploration of values and choices in the face of uncertainty.

Finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the collaborative process. Dr. Vonk works with clients to determine which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences, and adjusts the work as those needs evolve. This collaborative stance helps tailor sessions to what feels most helpful for each person.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility - sessions can occur by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging - allowing people to access licensed professionals from home or other convenient settings. These options make it easier to fit counseling into busy schedules, manage caregiving or mobility concerns, and maintain continuity of care during life transitions.