About Anna
Anna Murphy is a licensed mental health counselor in Iowa with nine years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people who are overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship strain, addiction, and life changes. Her tone in sessions is warm and direct, and she aims to help people build practical coping skills.
She has worked in psychiatric hospitals, schools, community mental health centers, and personal agencies. That range means she has seen a lot of different situations and can draw on those experiences when a new problem comes up.
Background and approach
She has supported people managing mood disorders, persistent mental health challenges, grief, substance use, emotion regulation difficulties, and the aftermath of trauma. Anna earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Studio Arts with a Sociology minor from the University of Iowa, then completed a Master of Science in Art Therapy and Counseling in 2015.
Her academic background combines talk-based therapy with creative, expressive approaches when clients want them. Her work blends client-centered care with evidence-based methods. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy strategies alongside trauma-informed and solution-focused techniques.
When it fits, she will introduce expressive therapy tools to help people process feelings in different ways. Sessions with Anna focus on real, usable strategies. She helps clients practice new skills, set small goals, and track what works.
The aim is steady progress people can carry into everyday life.
How Anna Uses Therapy Approaches Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters to them and take small actions toward those values while managing painful thoughts and feelings. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and practicing new behaviors to reduce anxiety or depressive symptoms. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) addresses disturbing memories and trauma by using bilateral stimulation alongside guided recall to reduce the emotional intensity of those memories.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the person about goals, past experiences with therapy, and preferences to decide which methods to try first. Adjustments happen over time based on what helps most in real life.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video lets people use visual cues and try expressive exercises, phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or messaging can make brief check-ins or ongoing support easier during a busy day. These options make it possible to work on skills, complete exercises together, and track progress without traveling to an office.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Anna commonly address?
What is her general therapy style like?
What kinds of settings has she worked in?
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
Which languages are offered for sessions?
How are therapy sessions delivered?
How does payment and cost work?
How do I begin working with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 9 years
- Licensed
- Iowa
- Languages
- English