About Colleen
Colleen Prendergast is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Wisconsin with 18 years of clinical experience. She helps people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, ADHD, and struggles in relationships or at work. Colleen works with adults across life stages and focuses on practical ways to manage emotions and daily challenges.
Her approach is person-centered and grounded in the body-mind connection, so Somatic methods often appear alongside cognitive and mindfulness strategies.
Background and approach
Sessions aim to build trust quickly, so people feel safe to talk about hard things and try small, manageable changes. Colleen emphasizes clear skills for coping, emotional regulation, and problem solving. She draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and client-centered work.
That mix allows sessions to shift between talking, skills practice, and noticing how feelings show up in the body. Colleen also uses coaching techniques when appropriate to support life goals and practical steps forward. Her style is direct but warm.
Colleen encourages curiosity about patterns and steady practice of new habits. She aims to make therapy feel useful from the first few meetings rather than distant or vague. Colleen works with people facing grief, addiction, mood disorders, impulsivity, caregiving stress, and similar concerns.
She supports those coping with midlife shifts, career questions, and loneliness. The focus is on what clients want to change and on concrete strategies to get there.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Somatic-informed work helps people notice how emotions show up in the body and use gentle movement or breath to change those sensations. This can help with anxiety, stress, and trauma responses by teaching simple ways to calm or ground the body during hard moments.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on values and small committed steps. It teaches people to notice difficult thoughts without getting stuck and to take actions that match what matters to them. Client-Centered Therapy creates a supportive, nonjudgmental space where people can explore feelings at their own pace and find their own solutions.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist and client discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful. Techniques can be adjusted over time so sessions stay practical and relevant to real-life needs.
Online therapy using video, phone, live chat, or text messaging offers flexibility for busy schedules and people who prefer remote care. These formats let clients practice skills between sessions, check in quickly when needed, and fit therapy into work or family routines more easily. Licensed professionals can use these options to deliver structured sessions and ongoing support that match a client's life and goals.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- First responder issues
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Personality disorders
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 18 years
- Licensed
- Wisconsin
- Languages
- English