Penny Howland, LCSW

Penny Howland is an LCSW with four decades of clinical experience. She blends medical and mental health perspectives to help people navigate hard life moments. Her work emphasizes the connection between body and mind and builds on people’s strengths and resilience.

She has practiced in hospitals and clinics alongside medical teams, including dialysis settings and hospice care. That background shapes how she approaches grief, end-of-life concerns, and complex medical-related stress. She also has long experience with substance use and adjustment disorders.

Penny draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and psychodynamic ideas to tailor care to each person’s needs. That means looking at patterns of thought and behavior while also attending to deeper life stories that shape how someone responds to stress. She aims for practical changes alongside better self-understanding.

Her specialty areas include trauma and abuse, addictions, depression, anxiety, relationship and intimacy issues, caregiver stress, and compassion fatigue. She also addresses sleep problems, anger, self-esteem, career questions, bipolar concerns, and obsessive-compulsive patterns. Additional focuses include abandonment, attachment issues, divorce and separation, and hospice and end-of-life counseling.

Penny trained at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, earning a BA and a Master of Social Work. She holds an LCSW credential and has worked across many clinical settings. People looking to begin therapy are invited to use the Start Therapy button and complete the short matching questionnaire to set up a first session.

How Penny’s approaches translate to online care

Her work uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and psychodynamic ideas to guide the process. CBT looks at thoughts and behaviors and helps people try small changes that ease symptoms like anxiety, sleep problems, or compulsive habits. Psychodynamic therapy pays attention to patterns that repeat over time and how past relationships shape current responses, which can help with grief, attachment, and long-standing relationship concerns.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. Penny will discuss your goals and preferences and suggest whether CBT, psychodynamic work, or a mix might be best. The plan can change as you learn what helps and what feels useful in your daily life.

Details about session formats are not listed in the biography, so please confirm the available options before booking. In general, online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions around work, caregiving, or medical appointments, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises, homework, and check-ins to work well at a distance and help clients apply new skills between sessions.