About Betsy
Dr. Betsy Puentes uses relational, evidence-informed approaches to help people handle stress, depression, anxiety, and life transitions.
Background and approach
She brings 46 years of clinical experience and holds licenses as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas. Dr.
Puentes keeps sessions practical and focused on what a person wants to change. She helps people sort through low self-esteem, motivation problems, career setbacks, and relationship struggles.
Sessions often look at patterns in thinking and feeling and build small, doable skills for everyday life. She encourages people to notice their strengths and use those strengths to move forward.
Her work draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to shift unhelpful thoughts and increase purposeful action. Emotionally-Focused Therapy and Imago ideas guide work on connection and communication when relationship concerns arise.
She also uses existential approaches to tackle meaning, purpose, and big life questions. Dr.
Puentes is comfortable addressing concerns such as addiction, trauma and abuse, anger, and coping with illness or caregiving stress. She also supports people dealing with attachment wounds, abandonment fears, body image, and blended family stress.
Her wide experience includes working with concerns across the lifespan and many life stages. Sessions are offered in English and delivered to people in Texas.
Dr. Puentes values a collaborative process: she listens, offers straightforward tools, and adapts her approach to each person’s goals.
Taking the first step can feel hard, and she aims to make that step clearer and more manageable.
Therapeutic approaches that work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It focuses on small, meaningful steps and can help with anxiety, depression, and motivation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy addresses patterns of thinking and behavior by teaching practical skills to reduce distress and change unhelpful habits.Dr. Puentes treats therapy as a collaborative process. She will talk with each person about goals, try approaches that fit those goals, and adjust methods based on how someone responds. Finding the right fit is part of the work together rather than a one-time decision.
Online sessions offer flexible ways to connect. Video calls let people see facial cues and work in real time. Phone sessions can be simpler when internet bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging allow for brief check-ins, journaling between sessions, or support when a written conversation feels most helpful. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and to continue care when travel or location is a factor.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 46 years
- Licensed
- Texas
- Languages
- English