Teresa Barnes, LMSW

Teresa Barnes is a licensed social worker with 29 years of experience. She focuses on practical ways to reduce stress and anxiety, manage addictions, and work through trauma, grief, and depression. Teresa aims to meet each person where they are and walk alongside them through change.

She uses straightforward talk and collaborative planning. Sessions are tailored to the person’s needs and goals rather than a one-size-fits-all plan. Teresa emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and compassion in every interaction.

Over nearly three decades of work in Michigan, she has supported people facing a wide range of concerns. These include attachment issues, body image and codependency, aging and geriatric concerns, and challenges related to adoption or foster care. She also works with mood disorders and behavioral challenges such as disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and antisocial personality features.

Teresa draws on several therapeutic approaches to guide sessions. She uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful patterns and build new skills. Attachment-based and client-centered methods shape how she builds trust and focuses conversation on what matters most to the individual.

If you are coming from military service or civilian life transitions, she is listed in a Service and civilian life-focused directory and can be part of the referral process. Sessions are conducted in English and Teresa accepts international clients through the service process when that is supported.

How Teresa’s approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings and then commit to actions that fit their values. It can be useful for stress, anxiety, and sticking with recovery goals. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors connect and teaches practical skills for changing unhelpful patterns, which can help with depression and anxiety.

Finding the right approach usually happens together. Teresa will work with each person to decide which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That choice is collaborative and can shift as therapy progresses.

The biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm current options before booking. In general, online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life. It can reduce travel time, allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight, and make it simpler to maintain continuity during transitions between service and civilian life. Licensed professionals can adapt ACT and CBT exercises to remote sessions so people still practice skills between meetings.