Terri Chester , LCMHC

Terri Chester, LCMHC (Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor), brings 31 years of counseling experience rooted in formal training and diverse practice settings. She earned a master’s degree in counseling from Appalachian State University in 1989 and an advanced certificate in expressive arts therapy from the European Graduate School in Switzerland in 1999. Over three decades she has worked in public schools, community colleges, universities, community mental health programs, private practice, and wilderness therapy, developing a broad skill set across ages and contexts.

Her approach is strength-based and client-centered, focusing on building existing resources while identifying new ones. Terri sees therapy as a collaborative process in which she serves as a resource, sounding board, and guide. She helps clients learn skills for coping with and expressing emotions, practicing self-care, solving problems, making decisions, and planning new life directions. Cognitive and cognitive-behavioral techniques are often used for problem-solving and goal-setting, and she frequently complements talk therapy with mindfulness, expressive arts, body-centered methods, or Gestalt-influenced experiential work.

Terri’s primary areas of expertise include anxiety, depression, anger management, grief and loss, trauma processing, and developmental life transitions such as blending families, divorce, relocation, and career change. With a background in outdoor and experiential education as well as expressive arts therapy, she emphasizes self-reflection, increased self-awareness, practical skills, and supportive collaboration to help clients pursue positive growth. Terri holds North Carolina LCMHC license number 2389.

Approach-Focused Online Therapy with Practical Flexibility

Terri frequently integrates client-centered therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy into her online practice. Client-centered therapy emphasizes a supportive, collaborative relationship where the therapist follows the client’s lead, helps uncover strengths, and creates space for personal exploration - it is especially helpful for issues around self-esteem, relationship concerns, and life direction. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying patterns of thinking and behavior that contribute to distress and teaching concrete skills to change those patterns - it is often used for anxiety, depression, and problem-solving goals.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic work, and Terri treats that choice as a collaborative decision. She will discuss options, try techniques that fit a client’s preferences and goals, and adjust the plan as needed to ensure the work feels useful and manageable.

Online therapy with Terri is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility for different schedules and communication styles. These options make it easier to access consistent support from licensed professionals while balancing work, family, and other responsibilities, and allow therapy to continue even when in-person meetings are impractical.