About Brenda
Brenda Cloyd is a licensed social worker who helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, and trauma. She brings 20 years of experience to short- and long-term struggles like grief, parenting strain, intimacy issues, and career concerns. Brenda uses a calm, direct style that aims to make change feel doable.
Her sessions are person-focused and practical. She listens for what matters most and then works with each person to set clear, achievable goals.
Background and approach
Brenda blends body-based work with talking therapies to help people notice how feelings show up in the body and then find ways to respond differently. Brenda uses approaches such as Somatic Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to guide her work. That mix lets her address emotions, thoughts, and physical reactions together.
Sessions often include grounding tools, skill practice, and gentle exploration of difficult memories. She has substantial experience with issues like addiction, trauma and abuse, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and compassion fatigue. Brenda also supports people through family-of-origin concerns, adoption and foster care matters, blended family challenges, and divorce or separation stress.
Based in South Carolina, Brenda works with people in English and accepts international clients. She holds the LISW-CP credential, SC LISW-CP 4723, and brings two decades of clinical practice to each appointment.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online work
Somatic Therapy helps people tune into bodily sensations and simple movement or breathing practices to reduce physical tension and emotional overwhelm; it can be useful for trauma, anxiety, and stress. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on noticing thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them and choosing actions that match personal values, which helps with mood, worry, and life changes. Client-Centered Therapy prioritizes the persons perspective and builds an empathic, nonjudgmental connection that supports exploration and growth.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist collaborates with each person to try methods that fit their needs, goals, and comfort level. Adjustments are made over time so the approach stays practical and relevant.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules and to keep regular contact between appointments. Many people find that having multiple formats helps maintain momentum and supports steady progress.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does Brenda address?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her background and experience?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages are sessions offered in and can international clients join?
What session formats does she provide?
How are fees handled for sessions?
How do I begin working with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Parenting issues
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Hypnotherapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- South Carolina
- Languages
- English