Denise Owen, LCSW

Denise Owen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in North Carolina with 34 years of clinical experience. She began in social work in 1986 and earned a Master of Social Work in 1990. Denise lists anger among the many concerns she supports, along with stress, anxiety, relationship problems, grief, parenting and addictions.

Her background includes work in inpatient and outpatient settings, a state psychiatric hospital in North Carolina, a medical hospital in South Carolina, a military base in Virginia, and several outpatient agencies in Pennsylvania. She has worked with people facing long-term psychiatric issues, hospice care, developmental challenges, domestic violence, substance use, and trauma. Denise has also worked with military service members and their families during her career.

Denise keeps her license current by attending seminars and conferences in social work, medical, psychological, and ethics topics. She draws on a broad set of clinical techniques rather than a single method. Her practice approach is to assess the person first and then involve them in choosing therapy strategies that fit their goals.

In sessions she focuses on building rapport before moving into targeted work. If one approach does not suit the client, she will shift to another method until they find something that helps. She quotes the principle of diagnosing before prescribing when planning care.

Outside clinical work she has taught a range of subjects in the home school network and at community college, and she has published two children's books. Denise views counseling as practical work that, like exercise, can feel difficult but become rewarding once you engage.

How her approaches translate to online work