Licensed to practice in 4 states and accepts 27 insurances. Specializes in ADHD, Addiction, Anxiety and 10 more.
Stephen Kovacs
I am Stephen Kovacs a licensed clinical social worker with 5 years of experience helping adults who feel constantly “on edge” from anxiety and panic—always braced for the next shoe to drop, even when life looks fine from the outside. I’m licensed as an LISW-CP in South Carolina and an LCSW in North Carolina and Virginia and practice predominantly in the evenings via telehealth. My focus is on high-responsibility adults who are tired of living in survival mode: racing thoughts, worst‑case scenarios, physical symptoms like a racing heart or tight chest, and the burnout that comes from holding everything together for everyone else. Together, we’ll slow things down, make sense of what anxiety and panic are doing in your body and your life, and build concrete tools to manage spirals, reduce avoidance, and feel more in control day to day—not with fluffy advice, but with step‑by‑step, doable changes.
Get to know me
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
My main goal is to help you feel a bit more at ease and less like you’re being tested. We’ll go over how therapy works, basics around privacy and paperwork, and I’ll answer any questions you have so you’re not guessing about the process. From there, I’ll ask some down-to-earth questions about what’s been going on lately, your day-to-day life, and a bit of background—things like work or school, relationships, support system, health, and anything big that’s shaped you. You don’t need to have a perfect timeline or script; if you’re not sure where to start, I’ll help you sort out what feels most important to talk about first. By the end of that first hour, we’ll pull together what we’ve talked about, get clear on what you’d like to work toward, and sketch out some next steps so you leave with a sense of direction rather than feeling like you just dumped everything out. You’ll also have space to decide if I feel like a good fit for you and ask anything else that’s on your mind about working together.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
One of my greatest strengths is making it feel genuinely safe to be honest, even about the messy or “unflattering” parts of your story; people often tell me they feel surprisingly comfortable sharing things they’ve never said out loud before. I’m good at asking practical, down-to-earth questions that connect the dots between your past and present, so we can understand what’s going on without getting lost in jargon or long lectures. I also tend to be very organized and intentional in how we use our time together: I help you get clear on what you want from therapy, keep us focused on those goals, and translate insights into small, realistic steps you can actually try between sessions.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I’m best positioned to support adults who are usually high-functioning on the outside but feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or worn down on the inside—often by anxiety, trauma, depression, or chronic stress. Many of the people I work with are caregivers, helpers, or professionals who are used to taking care of everyone else and are now realizing they also need a place to fall apart a bit, make sense of what they’ve been through, and learn more sustainable ways to cope. You might be coming to therapy because you’re tired of repeating the same patterns in relationships, feeling on edge or shut down after difficult experiences, or struggling to balance your responsibilities with any time or energy left for yourself. My goal is to help you feel more grounded and in control of your life again by breaking problems into manageable steps, building skills you can use between sessions, and creating a nonjudgmental space where you don’t have to have it all together to be taken seriously.
Specialties
Top specialties
ADHD
Addiction
Anxiety
Other specialties
Career Counseling
Chronic Illness
Coping Skills
Depression
First Responders/Healthcare Workers
Grief
Health/Medical Issues
Men's Issues
Substance Misuse
Trauma and PTSD
I identify as
Christian
Man
Serves ages
Adults (18 to 64)
Elders (65 and above)
Licensed in
Maine
North Carolina
South Carolina
Virginia
Accepts
Aetna
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
All Savers
Anthem
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Independence Blue Cross
Independence Administrators
AvMed
Cash - $120 per session
Golden Rule
Harvard Pilgrim/UnitedHealthcare
NC State Health Plan
UnitedHealthcare/Optum
Optum
OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
Oscar
Oxford
Surest (formerly Bind)
United Medical Resources
UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
UnitedHealthcare StudentResources
Location
Virtual
My treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for adults who feel overwhelmed by anxiety, panic, depression, ADHD, or stress and want practical tools that actually work in day‑to‑day life. My style is warm, straightforward, and collaborative—we’ll focus on understanding your patterns, practicing new ways of thinking and responding, and building simple skills you can use between sessions so life feels calmer, more steady, and more in your control
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
I use Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), a structured, evidence-based trauma treatment that helps you make sense of what happened and how it continues to affect your life today. CPT focuses less on repeatedly retelling the trauma and more on exploring the meanings and beliefs you may have taken away from it—such as self-blame, mistrust, or feeling unsafe—and gently testing whether those beliefs are fully accurate or fair. In our work, we will identify “stuck points,” examine the evidence for and against them, and practice more balanced ways of thinking so that memories of the trauma feel less overwhelming and less in control of your daily emotions and behavior. Sessions are collaborative and goal-oriented, and I strive to create a steady, compassionate space where you can process difficult experiences at a manageable pace while building skills that support long-term healing, safety, and connection
Motivational Interviewing
I use Motivational Interviewing, an evidence‑based, collaborative counseling style that helps you resolve mixed feelings about change without pressure or judgment. Rather than telling you what to do, I ask focused, open questions and reflect what I hear so we can clarify what you really want, why it matters, and what feels realistic right now. Together, we explore both sides of your ambivalence, connect change to your core values, and build on your existing strengths so that any steps you take feel self‑directed and sustainable. This approach is especially helpful if you feel stuck, burned out, or pulled in two directions about cutting back substance use, starting ERP, following through on ADHD strategies, or making health and lifestyle changes.
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)
I use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), a gold‑standard, evidence‑based form of CBT that helps you gradually face your fears while resisting the rituals or safety behaviors that keep anxiety stuck. In ERP, we create a step‑by‑step plan to safely confront the thoughts, situations, or sensations that trigger your anxiety or OCD, starting with manageable challenges and building up over time