Anna Murphy, LMHC

Anna Murphy is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) based in Iowa. She works with people dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma, relationship and intimacy concerns, grief, and substance use. Her style is warm and interactive, aimed at helping clients feel heard and more able to manage hard moments.

Anna has about nine years of clinical experience in a range of settings. She has worked in psychiatric hospitals, schools, community mental health centers, and independent agencies. That variety means she is familiar with both short-term crises and longer-term challenges, including persistent mood symptoms and grief.

She uses straightforward, practical strategies to help people cope. She focuses on teaching skills for managing emotions, improving communication, and handling life transitions. She often blends talk-based methods with expressive tools when clients want them.

Anna trained at the University of Iowa where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Studio Arts with a Sociology minor. She completed a Master of Science in Art Therapy and Counseling at The College of New Rochelle in 2015. Her background supports work with trauma, mood disorders, addiction, ADHD, and complex stress responses.

In sessions she centers the person’s goals and experience. She helps people identify steps they can try between visits, practice new coping skills, and track what works. Those who want a collaborative, skills-focused approach often find her practical and supportive.

How Anna’s approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings and still move toward meaningful goals. It emphasizes values-based actions and practical exercises to reduce avoidance. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns through clear skills and small experiments between sessions. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) assists people processing past distressing memories by pairing focused recall with guided bilateral stimulation when appropriate.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods fit their needs and preferences. That choice can change over time as goals evolve and new issues come up.

The original biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm available options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, cut travel time, and allow brief check-ins when a full session is not needed. Different approaches lend themselves to different activities online, from skill practice and homework in CBT to guided processing in EMDR, and the therapist will adapt tools to the format you agree on.