Ann Ghabel, LISW

Ann Ghabel is an Iowa-licensed social worker who focuses on helping people notice and change thoughts and everyday habits that get in the way of daily life. She brings a long history of mental health work to sessions and aims to make the room calm and nonjudgmental. Ann uses practical approaches so people can try new ways of coping between meetings.

She spent many years working as a nurse on an inpatient child psychiatry unit and teaching psychiatric nursing before moving into her current practice. That background shaped her steady, practical style and her interest in trauma, family challenges, and parenting concerns. Those experiences also inform how she helps people address anxiety, stress, depression, grief, sleep and eating issues, and mood differences such as bipolar concerns.

Ann draws on Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness practices, and hypnotherapy to tailor sessions to each person. She prioritizes understanding how thoughts and everyday habits keep problems going and works with clients to test manageable changes. Sessions may include skill practice, thought tracking, and paced reflection to build new routines.

People come for help with anger, self-esteem, career questions, compassion fatigue, ADHD, and many family-related worries like adoption, attachment questions, blended family stress, caregiver strain, and divorce. She also supports those coping with chronic illness, trauma and domestic violence recovery, and disaster-related distress.

Ann has eleven years of experience as a therapist and holds an Iowa Licensed Independent Social Worker credential, LISW. She sees clients in English and accepts international clients. To start, readers are asked to use the Start Therapy option and complete a short matching questionnaire before scheduling.

How Ann Uses Talk Work and Skills Online

Ann often combines Client-Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) when working with people online. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and helping people feel heard so they can put words to difficult thoughts and emotions. CBT helps identify unhelpful thought patterns and test new behaviors to change how someone feels and functions.

She may also draw on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills when emotional regulation and strong reactions are part of the problem. DBT-style work teaches short, practical techniques for managing intense feelings and improving communication in stressful moments.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapy process. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences. That means trying different techniques and adjusting based on what helps most.

If you plan to work online, confirm which session formats are currently offered before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into busy days, reduce travel time, and allow check-ins during breaks or from another location. Some approaches lend themselves to brief skill practice, homework like thought tracking, or paced reflection that fits well into an online session.