Susan VanHuizen, LMSW

Susan VanHuizen is a licensed master social worker with 20 years of clinical experience. She focuses on practical tools that help people manage anxiety, depression, stress, and addictive behaviors. Her style is straightforward and warm so parents can understand steps to try at home.

Susan centers much of her work on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, using it to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and change patterns that keep them stuck. She also brings elements of dialectical behavior therapy and mindfulness to teach emotion regulation and present-moment skills. These methods are used to address mood, self-esteem, and coping during life changes.

Many sessions focus on clear strategies - skill practice, short experiments, and goal setting. Susan helps people break big problems into manageable tasks. She pays attention to how health conditions, caregiving, and aging can affect daily routines and mood.

She also works with concerns that often come up together, such as codependency, family of origin issues, money stress, and feelings of isolation. Motivational interviewing is used when people want to make changes but feel stuck or unsure where to begin. The overall aim is steady progress, not quick fixes.

Susan practices in Michigan and uses approaches that fit a person’s situation and pace. She explains options in plain language and supports clients as they try new skills and adjust plans over time.

Online approaches that teach skills and support change

CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors. It helps with anxiety, depression, stress, and habits that keep problems going by giving clear steps to try between sessions.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and better interpersonal skills. It is useful when emotions feel overwhelming or when someone wants tools to respond differently in heated moments.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with clients to pick methods that match goals, needs, and preferences. That collaboration means trying an approach, checking how it’s going, and adjusting when needed.

Online therapy offers flexibility with video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video allows face-to-face conversation for skill demonstration. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging can support quick check-ins, coaching between sessions, or shorter daily practice prompts. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or medical schedules while still focusing on practical skills and steady progress.