Matthew Schmeckpeper, LMHC, LMHP

Matthew Schmeckpeper is a licensed mental health counselor who brings ten years of practice to work with people facing addiction, trauma, mood and relationship concerns. He holds LMHC and LMHP credentials and practices in Iowa. His background includes community mental health, early childhood mental health, school-based settings, residential substance use programs, corrections, and outpatient services.

He uses straightforward, person-focused methods in sessions. Matthew pays attention to what has happened in a person's life and what they want to change next. Conversations are paced to match each person's needs and comfort level, so sessions stay practical and direct.

Matthew draws on several approaches to guide goals and skills work. He commonly uses client-centered methods that emphasize the person’s priorities, dialectical behavior therapy skills for emotional regulation, and emotionally-focused techniques to look at relationship patterns. He also incorporates mindfulness and existential ideas when they fit a client's concerns.

People reach out to discuss addictions, depression, anxiety, stress, anger, parenting strain, bipolar mood concerns, and life changes. Additional focus areas include issues such as codependency, impulsivity, trauma-related dissociation, and first responder or veteran concerns.

Sessions aim to build clearer coping options and steadier emotional responses. Matthew helps people practice skills between visits and checks progress together. Before scheduling, he asks people to describe what they want from therapy so sessions can start with clear, shared goals.

How his approaches guide online therapy

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and following the person's priorities. The therapist helps the person set goals and adjusts sessions to match what matters most to them. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches specific skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and improving relationships. Those skills can be practiced between sessions to help with anger, mood swings, and impulse control. Emotionally-Focused Therapy looks at how emotions shape relationship patterns and aims to create new ways of connecting and responding to others.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Matthew will talk with each person about their goals, needs, and preferences and then suggest which methods to try. That decision is collaborative and can be adjusted as progress and feedback guide the process.

Confirm the therapist's available session formats before booking, since the biography does not list them. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy day, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets people practice skills and discuss real-life moments that happen between visits. Licensed professionals can help tailor session length and structure to match a client's schedule and goals.