Wendy Goffena , LCSW

Wendy Goffena is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in Montana with nine years of clinical therapy experience and a total of 24 years working in mental health services. She provides care through a Community Mental Health Center in Central Montana and works with a diverse adult population, serving clients aged 18 to 90, including military veterans, individuals coping with common mental health concerns, people with severe mental illness or disabilities, and court-mandated clients.

Her clinical practice includes individual, family, and group therapy for depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma and abuse, complex grief and loss, anger management, relationship and interpersonal difficulties, parenting and family concerns, sleep problems, and challenges related to career transitions and life changes. She draws on extensive experience across multiple settings - including rural county mental health, medical social work with patients facing advanced chronic kidney failure, inpatient residential treatment for emotionally disturbed youth, correctional facility work with adolescent girls, child protective services, and partial and intensive outpatient day treatment programs.

A Montana native from a farming and ranching background, she earned an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Montana State University Billings and taught in small communities for seven years before returning to graduate school. She graduated with honors in 2015 from the Master of Social Work program at Walla Walla University Billings satellite campus and has held her Licensed Clinical Social Worker credential for nine years. The designation LCSW indicates a clinical social work license that authorizes her to provide psychotherapy and clinical services.

Her approach is client-centered and strengths-based, viewing clients as experts on their own lives and partnering with them to set the direction and depth of therapy. Utilizing motivational interviewing and a blend of evidence-informed modalities - including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - she helps clients identify strengths, build coping skills, and pursue treatment goals. Outside of clinical work she enjoys the Montana outdoors through hiking, fishing, camping, exploring historical sites, rock-hounding, and gardening, and she is an avid artist.

Therapeutic Approaches for Online Care

Wendy Goffena integrates several evidence-informed approaches into online therapy to meet a range of needs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients examine connections among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and develop practical strategies to change patterns that contribute to depression, anxiety, and unhelpful coping. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) emphasizes acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based action to increase psychological flexibility and support clients facing life transitions, stress, or chronic difficulties. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) offers a structured way to process traumatic memories and reduce their ongoing impact on relationships and daily functioning.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Wendy works with clients to identify what feels most useful based on their goals, symptoms, and personal preferences, and she adapts techniques over time to best support progress.

Online therapy with Wendy can take place via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, offering flexibility for different schedules and comfort levels. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care when travel, work, caregiving responsibilities, or geographic distance would otherwise make in-person sessions difficult, while allowing licensed professionals to deliver structured, goal-oriented treatment tailored to each client.