About Carley
Carley James Bruner is a Washington-based licensed mental health counselor who focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, relationship struggles, addictions, and effects of trauma. She speaks plainly and meets people where they are to work on real problems they face day to day. Carley believes clients are the experts on their own lives and draws on strengths people already have.
She emphasizes practical steps and steady support so change feels manageable.
Background and approach
Seeking help is a brave step, and she aims to make early sessions feel straightforward and goal-focused. With 15 years of experience, Carley blends practical strategies with emotion-focused work. She uses tools that help people notice patterns, shift unhelpful thinking, and practice new ways of relating.
Sessions can include skill-building, movement through past hurts, and problem-solving for current stressors. Carley has worked with people facing a wide range of concerns including abandonment issues, attachment challenges, blended family tensions, body image, caregiver stress, codependency, communication problems, control issues, and separation or divorce. She also supports those coping with guilt, shame, impulsivity, and first responder stress.
Her approach is collaborative. She helps clients set clear, manageable goals and checks in about what is working. People leave sessions with concrete steps they can try between meetings and a clearer sense of their progress.
Approaches That Guide Online Sessions
Carley commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing to address distress. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new ways of thinking and behaving to reduce anxiety and depression. EMDR helps people process distressing memories so they cause less emotional disruption in daily life.She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Emotionally-Focused Therapy when relationships and intense emotions are central. DBT teaches concrete skills for managing strong feelings and improving emotional regulation. EFT helps people name emotions in relationships and try new ways of connecting that reduce cycles of conflict or withdrawal.
Finding the best approach is a team effort. Carley will talk with clients about their goals, try methods that fit those goals, and adjust as progress unfolds. She checks in regularly so therapy stays aligned with what the person needs.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is helpful for focused work and skill practice, phone can be used when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed, and chat or messaging supports brief check-ins and ongoing skills coaching. These options make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life and to keep momentum between meetings.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Washington
- Languages
- English