I’m a licensed clinical social worker with over 15 years of experience helping clients from diverse backgrounds navigate the challenges of mental health, consequences of trauma, overbearing thoughts, managing emotions, and interpersonal/relationship struggles. I specialize in trauma and am a level II certified clinical trauma professional (CCTP II). My approach to counseling is supportive, nonjudgmental, and straight forward. I have a passion for helping people improve their day-to-day functioning and overall success in life. I strongly believe that empowerment is the difference between thriving and just surviving in life. If you choose to work with me, you’ll get a no-nonsense therapist who is deeply committed to educating, motivating, and empowering you. I believe real change comes from within — my role is to help you recognize your own strength, build emotional resilience, and create lasting success. I seek to accomplish this by helping clients understand the importance of effective emotion regulation, thought awareness, healthy communication, and self-worth, in order to establish sustainable long-term solutions and successful outcomes for years to come. Healing isn’t easy, but with the right support, it’s absolutely possible. If you are ready to take that step, I am here to come along side of you, to support and empower you as you begin this journey. I look forward to working with you!
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, I’ll take time to introduce myself and what you can expect from me as a therapist and from the therapy process. We’ll walk through an intake that gives me a chance to learn more about you, your story, and what led you to seek therapy. From there, we’ll begin to create a personalized plan with clear goals—your unique blueprint to guide our work together as you move from simply surviving to truly thriving.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
XXX What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a provider?
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I work best with individuals who have decided they are done living in survival mode and are ready to start living. We’ll be a good fit if you’re seeking freedom from being ruled by overwhelming emotions or looping thoughts, and eager to reconnect with a sense of self that’s been hidden away. You might not have a clear understanding of why you think/feel the way you do or what parts are holding you back, but you’re committed to uncovering the root of your struggles and doing the inner work to create meaningful & lasting change.
About Stephanie Syverson
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8720 Silverado Trail, McKinney, TX 75070Appointments
Fully bookedMy treatment methods
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I've implemented IFS therapy with clients for 5 years and have seen incredible results within months with clients who had been going to therapy for trauma for years, but still struggled. IFS helps clients process trauma and promotes healing by allowing them to connect with and understand their wounded parts in a way that feels much safer and less overwhelming than other methods. It's based on the idea that we all have parts, but that the self can help these parts understand the reasons for their extreme behavior and renegotiate their roles, allowing them to become more flexible and adaptive.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
ACT is based on the idea that struggling with unwanted thoughts and feelings can lead to more suffering, so aims to develop psychological flexibility, which involves accepting internal experiences and taking action in a way that aligns with one's values. ACT is especially helpful in trauma therapy as many who have experience childhood trauma lack a solid sense of self and feel if they heal their trauma, what will be left. ACT allows clients to establish a solid sense of self and sense of identity, one that has always been there, just buried due to being in survival mode for so long.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
DBT is useful in trauma therapy because it provides concrete skills/strategies aimed at replacing problematic behaviors born out of fight or flight with new more effective ones. Additionally, because unprocessed trauma leads the brain to believe the trauma is still actively occurring, the mindfulness aspect of DBT is extremely useful in helping clients stay in the current moment, which is the safest place for our mind to be. Mindfulness also helps clients learn how to observe thoughts separate from themselves & without judging/applying meaning to the thought, which is ultimately what leads to emotional responses. I use DBT for people who experience emotions very intensely, consistently experience problems in relationships/interpersonal effectiveness, and struggle to appropriately tolerate distress/challenging situations.
Trauma Informed Care
No client is in the same place in their healing journey, and while presentation/behaviors are the same across the board, the ones causing the biggest issues, vary client to client. Therefore I have a variety of therapy methods in my "toolbox" and often use combination of methods. The 2 main methods I use are IFS (Internal Family Systems) and Lifespan Integration therapy. Both methods are focused on healing via moving the trauma from an "active" state in your brain, to just a memory. Neither method requires reliving or discussing the actual trauma, instead they focus on the "scars" from it that are causing problems in your life. I have seen tremendous results with clients who have been in therapy for years, who are able to process the trauma within just a couple of months and are able to shift their focus to changing the maladaptive behaviors/errors in thinking caused by the trauma, because they're finally safe enough for it to stick. Additionally, I provide education about brain function throughout the process, so that clients have a better understanding of the why behind their symptoms/struggles and the strategies/skills I'm introducing.