Gillian Van Dien

Gillian Van Dien is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Wisconsin with 17 years of experience. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, anger, relationship strain, grief, and parenting concerns. Her work is grounded in clear, practical support so clients can manage day-to-day challenges more effectively.

Gillian uses a collaborative style that centers the person's goals. She listens for patterns that keep people stuck and offers straightforward tools to change them. Sessions focus on building skills for emotion regulation, improving communication, and increasing self-compassion.

Her background includes long-term experience helping adults and teenagers with life transitions and midlife concerns. She also supports people dealing with trauma, intimacy-related issues, body image and eating concerns, and chronic illness or caregiving stress. Gillian aims to help clients reconnect with values and purpose while reducing the weight of past hurts.

Therapeutic work often blends practical exercises with deeper emotional processing. Clients may practice new ways of communicating, try behavioral experiments, or learn acceptance-based strategies that reduce reactive patterns. The pace and focus are shaped by each person’s needs and goals.

Gillian encourages a down-to-earth approach to therapy. She partners with people who want tools they can use outside session time, and she helps set realistic steps toward better coping and healthier relationships.

Therapeutic approaches and online support

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, and then take small actions that match their values. ACT is often used for anxiety, depression, and coping with life changes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing them with practical behavior changes. CBT is useful for stress, low mood, anxiety, and patterns that maintain anger or worry.

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns shape current reactions and closeness. This approach can help when intimacy, trust, or repeated relationship conflicts are a concern.

Choosing the right approach is part of therapy. The therapist will work collaboratively to match methods to a person's goals, needs, and preferences. That means trying strategies, seeing what helps, and adjusting the plan together.

If you are considering online work, confirm which session formats are offered before booking. Online options can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, allow shorter check-ins between in-person visits, and reduce travel time. Talk with the therapist during the match process about what will work best for your schedule and day-to-day routines.