About Me
I am a mental health counselor licensed in Indiana with over 15 years of experience working as a psychotherapist and life coach. I have worked with clients with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, and career challenges.
My counseling style is warm and interactive. in fact clients often comment on how comfortable they are with having conversation with me. I tend to avoid being overly clinical, though conversation is deliberate and purposeful. I believe in treating anyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion, and I don't believe in stigmatizing labels. My approach combines cognitive-behavioral (CBT), dialectical-behavioral (DBT), psychodynamic and rational-emotive (REBT) counseling. Each person is unique and we will use the tools that are best for you and your situation.
It takes courage to seek for a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change. If you are ready to take that step I am here to support and empower you.
I look forward to working with you!
Specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Depression
Self esteem , Abandonment , Dissociation , Emptiness , Expats , Family of Origin Issues , Gender Dysphoria , Guilt and Shame , Impulsivity , Isolation/Loneliness , Life Purpose , Men's Issues , Mood Disorders , Read more...
Clinical approaches:
Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy
Services Offered
Messaging
Live Chat
Phone
Video
Licensing
LMHC #39001707A (Expires: 2022-04-01)
Reviews
So far in my roughly 2.5 weeks of counselling with Aaron, Aaron has been very understanding, thoughtful, intellectually stimulating, and not too dry in his deliverance.
I've so far learned new things from him, and am beginning to explore my issues with fresh eyes.
Aaron is approachable, understanding and knowledgeable. He has listened and understood my issues without judgement and has been instrumental in my ongoing improvement. The variety of tools he has shared in my therapy has really helped me to understand myself and behaviour better, and we've used tools I haven't encountered before.
Aaron always has a targetted response to my concerns of the day, and helps me to reflect and evaluate.
10/10!
You freaking rock more than an 80’s hair band
I came to Aaron when I was at a very dark place emotionally, as there was a lot of things that were going wrong in my life. From the first moment we started having a back and forth, I could feel that he was really listening to what I was going through, and I took each and every piece of advice that he could give to me. Never felt as though I was being judged, and always felt as though I could be open and honest about what I was going through. After almost a year of being with him, I feel like my life has a better direction, and I am able to deal with the problems that may arise if I ever reach a dark place again.
The idea that it’s taken me months to be ready confront the issues that brought me to counseling in the first place (read as: the place where Aaron told I was within the first session) is baffling. I’m a licensed LCSW. I do this for a living ya’ll. I help people daily.
I’m a social worker. I counsel. I assist people getting connected to resources they may otherwise have. I know these techniques. I’ve been in Aaron’s shoes as the counselor.
I’ve been afraid to confront my issues. Aaron has gently, yet, forcefully, respectfully, yet expertly led me to a place where I am uncomfortable enough to be ready to be comfortable enough to confront and move forward from the trauma and recognize it for what it was and is no longer in my life.
I know that previous sentence may not sound as though it should make sense; however, Aaron’s approach to counseling is one that doesn’t fit a mold other than that of fitting directly to the counseled person. He doesn’t follow a specific “textbook” format like some other counselors out there. As we know, BetterHelp isn’t like most other counseling formats out there either.
Aaron truly has met me where I was and has walk-virtually- along side me m, in my pocket, in my car, in my headphones. He’s encouraged, challenged, and sometimes chased after me when I didn’t reply for a couple days
Aaron kept my head above water during a particularly difficult season of my life. I don’t know where I’d be without him. I’m so grateful for his support, guidance, and kindness.
Always respectful and very helpful
A friendly voice of reason. I've had a great experience with Aaron, he is very kind, understanding and very resourceful. Has helped me teach some goals already and was a very positive start to my therapy experience.
Aaron has been wonderful in the short time I've been with him. I had another counselor on Better Help before Aaron for a few weeks. While my previous counselor was more local, and would allow for potential in-person sessions, I am MUCH happier with Aaron. I've been with him for about two weeks and I definitely notice myself thinking back to things we have talked about and applying them to my real life.
Aaron is a great conversationalist and is skilled at building a therapeutic relationship (I write this review as a counselor in training).
He listens well, is completely absent of any judgement, and will take therapy whichever direction you would like to go.
I have been speaking with Aaron Gardner with a short while now, but I can easily say he's been the best person I've had both on BetterHelp and in general to talk to. He listens well and takes everything I say to him into account, I appreciate the way he works with me.
Aaron is fantastic, he is understanding, warm and kind. I feel relaxed talking with him and I wish I could share with him 24 hours a day.
Aaron just gets me. From his very first message I felt understood and comfortable to open up. With his very open, positive and warm nature, Aaron finds the perfect balance between listening, asking great questions, sharing scientific explanations and telling stories from his own life. He has been a great help over the past weeks and I would absolutely love to work with him again.
I like his advice and that he listens to my concerns.
So far Aaron has been very supportive and offered points of view I never imagined my mind going to. I look forward to continuing my sessions with him.
I like how Aaron approaches my situation. My anxiety level and also negative thoughts has been ruining my every day life. I do have work to do and I am confident that with Aaron guidance and helpful advices I will get through this and will take my life back :) Thank you Aaron!
So far Aaron has been wonderful. I enjoy talking with him.
I've been seeing Dr. Gardner for about five or six months now, and he's got a very interesting method of working. Rather than telling me what my problems are, he simply helps me talk through what's going on, so that I can figure things out on my own. It seems weird, but it's very empowering to realize that I've been fully in control of my recovery the whole time, and that every part of the healing process has been composed of MY ideas and MY follow-through. Knowing the whole thing is MY responsibility is surprisingly refreshing and a huge boost to my self-esteem.
It's only been a short while, but I love Aaron! He's fantastic, funny, compassionate and really makes me feel heard and seen.
Totally appreciate Aaron's candid remarks. There is a line here which has been crossed to prove it's legitimacy.
Aaron is excellent!
I have only had 1 live session with Aaron thus far, but have messaged with him back and forth for a few weeks now and I can say I really enjoy speaking with him. I feel he listens to me and takes me seriously, which was a fear I had prior to coming to this site. He is very easy to open up to and share with!
Aaron has been a great counselor for almost a year. He's helped me navigate communication and relationship issues, become more mindful, and more recently how to manage conflict avoidance.
Aaron is a great listener and thoughtful in his responses, pulling from his own experiences to try and provide some relatable examples that have certainly helped me understand myself and certain situations better.
I have only great things to say about Aaron!
I’ve been working with Aaron for several months on work/life balance, goal setting & accountability, and relationship issues. Aaron is warm, friendly, and helpful. Working with him helped me to stay on track with working towards goals and staying focused!
Aaron has been an amazing counselor. I have referred him as well as the Betterhelp service to several friends and people that I come into contact with. I had to take a quick break due to my finances but was anxious to get back involved and work with Aaron on my issues. Highly recommend!!
He is an awesome counselor! Always supportive. He has taught me a lot.
He’s been wonderful. The techniques he’s teaching me are very helpful and I’m confident we are going to beat this together.
Aaron has made me feel very comfortable when I've felt like my problems were too dumb to be shared or repeated over and over again. He is there to listen and uncover the real thoughts behind my anxiety. He is patient and very understanding.
Aaron is my right guy at the right time counsellor. Full of good humor he is experienced empathetic and highly skilled. We were able to make a good connection quickly and I'm sure that's not unusual for Aaron. He's been a huge practical help to me in facing some pretty significant life challenges. I'm so pleased to have reconnected with therapy and had this positive experience. We'll have an ongoing relationship I'm sure. I would recommend Aaron unreservedly.
Aaron is amazing :)
Aaron takes time to listen and offer strategies for me to try to work on setting boundaries. He helps me empower myself. I have grown so much from working with him.
Aaron is great and is well attuned to the issues and questions raised to him. He helped me see things through and clearly within a couple of weeks which worked really well and I highly recommend him.
Aaron has been very patient with me! He has given me some great techniques to manage my anxiety and it has been helping!
Aaron is a fantastic counsellor. He listens, appreciates and understands and every advice and task he gives me to do is very personal and specific to me and my needs. He makes me feel comfortable and relaxed and I feel completely comfortable opening up to him.
Aaron makes everything seem more manageable even having started this program very recently. He has given me hope and another side to what I am feeling. He is very willing to listen in a non judgmental fashion.
Aaron is a great analyst. I feel he is able to connect with my thought patterns and show me aspects of myself I had’t seen. He knows when to push and when to validate. I’m thankful I found him and for the work we’ve done so far.
Great counselor.
Aaron is respectful, analytical and a good listener. While proffesional he is approachable and friendly. During our communication I could see he was paying attention and always looked for the best angle to approach a solution. I benefited from sessions with him.
He’s very genuine and wants to help out.
Aaron is excellent at what he does. He offers clear steps and guidance on helping me with my problems, is always happy to talk and I couldn’t ask for more from him.
When I first spoke to Aaron I was fully at ease. He listened carefully to my concerns and we talked about my situation. As he used real time examples, it helped me relate and I was able to open up to him. Thank you!
I would definitely recommend Aaron as he has helped me through talking, and he gave me some worksheets that have helped me.
Aaron Gardner is comforting, understanding, and always seems to have the right questions. He does an excellent job of helping me get past the thoughts that have been weighing me down.