Barbara Lefdal

Barbara Lefdal is an LPC-MH with 30 years of experience based in South Dakota. She focuses on helping people manage depression, anxiety, grief, and major life changes. Her style is warm and down-to-earth, aiming to make difficult topics easier to talk about.

Barbara tailors sessions to people coping with caregiver strain, aging concerns, and feelings of isolation. She also works with those facing compassion fatigue, codependency, guilt, shame, and post-traumatic stress. Hospice and end-of-life counseling is a noted focus within her practice.

Her work often begins with listening closely to what feels most pressing. She uses practical strategies from cognitive behavioral and solution-focused methods to address unhelpful thoughts and create small, doable steps forward. Mindfulness tools are offered to help with overwhelming feelings and to build regular grounding habits.

Barbara also draws on client-centered and psychodynamic ideas to understand patterns that repeat over time. Motivational interviewing helps when someone feels stuck and needs gentle encouragement to make changes. Sessions aim to be collaborative, with the client setting priorities and pace.

People come for help with communication problems, money-related stress, divorce and separation, intellectual disability-related concerns, and multicultural issues. Barbara helps individuals name what matters, try manageable ways to cope, and notice progress along the way.

How therapeutic approaches guide online support

Client-centered therapy centers the person’s experience and priorities. It involves listening closely and shaping sessions around what the individual says matters most, which helps with grief, loneliness, and caregiver stress.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing small behavior changes. It is useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with life transitions by giving clear strategies to try between sessions.

Mindfulness therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce emotional overwhelm and improve daily coping. These techniques often pair well with other approaches when stress or grief feels intense.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to figure out which methods fit their goals and preferences. Plans are adjusted over time based on what is helpful and what isn’t.

Please confirm available session formats before booking, as specific online options are not listed here. Online therapy can make it easier to keep regular appointments, fit sessions into a busy day, and use shorter check-ins when needed. It can also let people try different tools between sessions, such as brief mindfulness practices or homework from CBT, to help progress in everyday life.