Ellen Pendley

Ellen Pendley is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 25 years of experience based in Missouri. She brings a calm, casual style to sessions and prefers to work together with each person to find practical steps forward.

Her background includes work in a women's shelter supporting abused women and providing care for abused children in foster care. She has also run an anger management group for men and provided therapy within a state vocational rehabilitation program. Several people she first met as children returned as adults for more therapy, which she finds rewarding.

Ellen helps people handle stress and anxiety, manage anger, and cope with trauma and abuse. She also supports work on self-esteem, control issues, guilt and shame, panic attacks, and self-love. Isolation and loneliness are among the concerns she addresses with clients.

Her approach is straightforward and down-to-earth. Sessions focus on talking through problems, identifying small changes, and practicing new ways of reacting. She aims to make therapy feel approachable rather than formal.

People who prefer a relaxed counselor who listens and collaborates may find her style helpful. Prospective clients should confirm current session formats before booking to make sure they fit their needs.

Evidence-based techniques and online care

Many of Ellen's years of practice draw on evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on clear skills and practical changes. One common approach involves learning coping skills for anxiety and panic attacks, such as breathing exercises, pacing techniques, and step-by-step strategies to interrupt panic. Another approach centers on processing trauma and abuse through structured conversations and graduated exposure to reduce distress and build more manageable responses.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Ellen works with each person to match techniques to their goals, preferences, and daily life. She checks in regularly to adjust methods and priorities so the work stays relevant and doable.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the session formats offered before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when a quick update is needed. Therapists and licensed professionals often use online work to help people practice new skills between appointments and to maintain continuity of care when in-person visits are harder to arrange.