Wendy Goffena

Wendy Goffena is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with nine years as an LCSW and a long history in mental health services. She practices in Montana and brings experience from clinics, inpatient programs, medical social work, and correctional and child welfare settings. Wendy focuses on everyday struggles like anxiety, anger, grief, and stress.

She takes a client-centered approach and treats people as the experts on their lives. Sessions emphasize identifying strengths and setting practical goals. Wendy draws on familiar, hands-on tools so clients can try new ways of managing mood, relationships, and behavior.

Wendy uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people notice links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. She also incorporates dialectical behavior strategies for mood regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ideas are used to build psychological flexibility and move toward valued action.

For past trauma she offers Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, provided as part of an overall plan when appropriate. Her background includes work with adults across many settings, including community mental health and medical social work, and extended experience with youth services earlier in her career.

Her style is collaborative and strengths-focused. She helps people make concrete steps toward feeling more capable and less overwhelmed. Outside of work she enjoys Montana’s outdoors, art, and gardening, which inform a down-to-earth perspective in sessions.

How specific approaches fit into online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice what matters to them and take small steps toward those values while accepting difficult thoughts and feelings. It can help with anxiety, stress, and motivation problems. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful patterns; it is often used for anxiety, depression, and sleep issues. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) offers a structured way to process past traumatic memories that still cause distress in daily life.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't worked before. Together they will try methods that make sense and adjust the plan as progress is made.

Session formats are not specified in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight. Licensed professionals can adapt ACT, CBT, and EMDR techniques to work well over distance, and the focus remains on practical skill-building and steady progress rather than quick fixes.