Courtney Surigao, LCMHC

Courtney Surigao is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) based in North Carolina. She brings 18 years of counseling experience and a calm, practical style to sessions. Courtney emphasizes thoughts and everyday habits as part of the work, helping people make small changes that add up over time.

She focuses on common life struggles like anxiety, depression, grief, parenting challenges, and stress. She also supports people dealing with relationship and intimacy concerns, family conflict, and career-related strain. Additional areas include body image, caregiver stress, chronic illness, and end-of-life or hospice concerns.

Courtney uses a mix of approaches chosen to fit each person. You may do practical skill work from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, focus on strengths with Solution-Focused ideas, or use narrative methods to reframe personal stories. Sessions often include straightforward exercises and real-life practice to help new habits stick.

Expect therapy that aims to be collaborative and goal oriented. Courtney will help clarify values, identify strengths, and set manageable steps toward change. She notes that progress takes effort and that the work outside sessions matters as much as the time in them.

People can expect a warm, down-to-earth tone that honors personal beliefs and life experiences. The focus is on helping people move toward greater hope, steadiness, and the everyday functioning they want.

How therapeutic approaches guide online care

Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and building understanding. It focuses on the person in front of the therapist and aims to make people feel heard and respected, which helps with anxiety, low self-esteem, and life transitions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts and everyday habits influence feelings and actions. CBT uses practical exercises and short tasks to change unhelpful thinking and behavior, which can help with anxiety, depression, and sleep or eating struggles.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps people identify and work through key emotions in close relationships. It can be useful for resolving patterns that cause distance or repeated arguments in partnerships and for improving emotional connection.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to figure out what fits best for their goals and preferences. That means trying methods, adjusting as needed, and using homework or short exercises to reinforce progress between sessions.

For online therapy logistics, please confirm the specific session formats before booking since the biography does not list them. Many people appreciate online options because they can fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, and choose a quieter moment for a focused check-in. Online work can still include worksheets, behavioral experiments, and conversation-based exercises that translate well to remote meetings. Licensed professionals will help design a plan that fits each person's schedule and daily life.