Peggy DeCarlis
You may understand what’s wrong—and still feel stuck. Maybe you overthink, carry responsibility for everyone else, repeat the same relationship patterns, or have already gained plenty of insight without the change you hoped for. I work with adults and couples who want therapy to lead somewhere. Together, we look beneath the surface, identify the patterns keeping you stuck, and turn insight into meaningful change. My style is active, collaborative, and grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and relational approaches. I ask questions, offer observations, and help you practice new ways of responding in daily life and relationships.
I also support clients managing chronic medical conditions, sleep difficulties, and pain, where emotional and behavioral factors play an important role.
I specialize in anxiety, burnout, grief, life transitions, self-trust, people-pleasing, and recurring relationship patterns. I also help couples move beyond cycles of conflict, distance, resentment, and loss of trust. Couples therapy is private pay and is not billed to insurance. I am licensed in Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, and Kansas and earned my master’s degree from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Clients often describe me as warm, direct, compassionate, practical, and grounded—with a welcome sense of humor. Learn more at https://peggydecarlistherapy.com
First session
Your first session will be focused, conversational, and collaborative. We’ll begin with what brought you to therapy now, what feels most difficult, and what you hope will be different. I’ll ask questions about the current situation, important background, what you have already tried, and the patterns you have begun to notice. You will not be expected to tell your entire life story or have everything figured out. My job is to listen closely, help organize what may feel tangled or overwhelming, and offer observations about what could be keeping the problem going. For couples, I will make room for each partner’s perspective while beginning to identify the cycle occurring between you. By the end of the session, we will have a clearer sense of the work ahead, whether the fit feels right, and one or two practical places to begin.
Strengths
I quickly build collaborative, trusting relationships and create a space where clients feel both supported and challenged. Clients often tell me they appreciate my ability to identify patterns, ask meaningful questions, and balance compassion with direct feedback. I have particular experience helping couples move beyond repetitive conflict, resentment, emotional distance, and communication breakdowns. Rather than focusing on who is right, I help partners understand the patterns that keep them stuck and develop new ways of responding to one another. I create a space where clients feel both supported and productively challenged. Clients often tell me they appreciate my ability to recognize patterns, ask questions that get to the heart of what is happening, and balance compassion with honest, direct feedback. I work with adults navigating anxiety, chronic stress, grief, life transitions, health concerns, sleep difficulties, people-pleasing, and over-functioning. I also have extensive experience helping couples understand and change repetitive cycles of conflict, resentment, emotional distance, and communication breakdown. Sessions are active, focused, and collaborative. We do more than discuss what happened: we explore what keeps happening, what function the pattern serves, and what you can begin doing differently. My aim is for you to leave therapy with greater clarity, practical ways to respond, and meaningful change that extends beyond the therapy hour.
Ideal clients
My ideal clients are thoughtful adults and couples who understand a great deal about themselves but still feel caught in patterns they have been unable to change. They may be struggling with anxiety, overthinking, burnout, grief, people-pleasing, over-responsibility, recurring conflict, emotional distance, or a loss of trust. They are often capable, self-aware people who appear to be managing well but feel exhausted, disconnected, or uncertain underneath. They are curious about themselves, open to honest reflection, and willing to practice new ways of responding between sessions. Their goals may include feeling steadier, setting clearer boundaries, trusting themselves, communicating more effectively, repairing important relationships, and making choices guided less by fear, guilt, or habit and more by what genuinely matters to them.
Treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is especially helpful when you understand why you feel or behave a certain way but still find yourself pulled into the same reactions. You may know that worrying, avoiding, people-pleasing, shutting down, or trying to control everything isn’t helping—yet knowing that doesn’t make the pattern easy to change. ACT does not ask you to eliminate difficult thoughts and feelings or pretend they aren’t there. Instead, you learn how to make room for them without allowing them to dictate what you do next. Together, we practice stepping out of automatic reactions, staying present during difficult moments, and choosing responses that reflect the person, partner, or family member you want to be. The goal is not to feel good all the time. It is to have greater freedom to act on what matters—even when anxiety, sadness, uncertainty, or discomfort comes along for the ride. In our work together, ACT helps you: • Step back from unhelpful thought patterns rather than being driven by them • Regulate emotional reactivity in moments of stress or conflict • Clarify your core values and how you want to show up in your life and relationships • Take practical, values-based steps toward meaningful change ACT is especially effective for anxiety, chronic stress, grief, life transitions, relationship distress, and situations where you feel stuck despite “trying everything.” My goal is not to eliminate difficult emotions, but to help you respond to them differently—so they no longer dictate your choices. From there, we focus on building a life that feels purposeful, connected, and aligned with what matters most.
Couples Counseling
Many couples come to therapy feeling trapped in the same arguments, emotionally distant, or burdened by resentment and hurt that never seems fully resolved. Often, both partners want the relationship to improve but have become caught in patterns that leave each person feeling unheard, unimportant, or alone. I help couples understand the cycle beneath the conflict—not to decide who is right, but to identify what keeps happening between them and practice new ways of responding. My approach is active, structured, and collaborative, drawing from relational therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Our work may include: • Interrupting repetitive conflict cycles • Communicating more clearly during difficult moments • Managing strong emotions without withdrawing or escalating • Restoring accountability and mutual respect • Rebuilding trust after hurt or betrayal • Creating greater closeness while preserving each partner’s sense of self Sessions are focused and practical. We connect what happens between us in the therapy room with changes you can practice in your relationship between sessions. Couples therapy is a specialized private-pay service offered at $175 per session and is not billed to insurance.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
White
Woman
Top specialties
Anxiety
Couples Counseling
Life Transitions
Other specialties
Grief
Insomnia/Sleep Issues
Mood Disorders
Older Adults
Postpartum
Trauma and PTSD
Serves
Adults (18 to 64)
Couples Counseling
Elders (65 and above)
Individual Therapy
Man
Non-binary
Woman
Doesn't specialize in
Child or Adolescent
Gambling Addiction
School Issues
Licensed in
KansasLicense LSCSW 4892
MarylandLicense 07007
MissouriLicense 2018043959
OhioLicense I.2304778