About Me
Licensed Certified Social Worker, West Virgina
Values and life hacks educator in all other locations
Color, LGBTQ, DID, Asperger's and trans friendly
MSW in Social Work, Loyola University, Chicago; MAE in Art Education, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BFA in Sculpture, SAIC
Private practice (35 years+) and volunteered (9 years) at Eastern Panhandle Care Clinic
Specialize in tapping and self-care
Published author and website writer on personal and social growth self-education
Lift the burden of guilt, hurt, anxiety, depression, and anger. You can help yourself and your family more in the future when you learn how to become free of negative feelings! This service is for you if you care about the future. You may have tried or are still trying to achieve freedom by using drugs, alcohol, religion, and attempting to make or keep other people happy. What works is our practical method for building self-esteem and standing up for yourself while considering others. We teach emotional freedom technique, also known as tapping and the Meditative Mantra to those who are interested in a method to decrease anxiety and increase self-confidence--a skill you will have for the rest of your life.
You can be your own person and still love others without feeling dependent on their approval or understanding. Your independence will make it possible to behave toward them with love and equanimity.
I expect you to speak up if you think I have asked too much from you or am saying something that doesn't feel right to you. The intent is to have a conversation that will help us understand each other better. I'm also knowledgeable about holistic health care and can advise about therapies that might effectively improve your health.
Current brain research supports the reality of the brain's plasticity, meaning its ability to change. The new science of epigenetics indicates we even have the ability to turn on and off the functioning of our genes by developing new behaviors. These scientific developments mean that no one need ever feel imprisoned by family history again. I can guide you in practices that will lead toward fulfilling your goals.
My style is straight-forward, supportive, and values oriented. I'm color, race, religion, and diagnosis friendly. I have forty years experience working with people who have struggled with depression, grief, anxiety, learning challenges, and often who have experienced childhood deprivation. I encourage you to explore and experiment with new skills as you seek paths for bringing more satisfaction to your life.
What I ask of you may sound like hard work. In actuality, it is an effective and worthwhile way of becoming more loving toward yourself and others.
Specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Depression
Addictions , LGBT , Relationship issues , Sleeping disorders , Anger management , Self esteem , Career difficulties , Bipolar disorder , Coping with life changes , Compassion fatigue , Codependency , Control Issues , Read more...
Clinical approaches:
Client-Centered Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Jungian Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy
Services Offered
Messaging
Live Chat
Phone
Video
Licensing
LCSW #CP00940664 (Expires: 2022-01-01)
Reviews
Barbara-June is an amazing counselor. Her approach is simple, effective, and very kind. I would recommend her with highest regards.
Barbara was able to very quickly give me a few tools to help calm me and bring my mind back to reality. I think I have a long road ahead of me but Barbara has definitely set me on the right path.
She is very open
Barbara-June is patient in her responses to me and is always timely.
Has helped me greatly.
very knowledgeable counselor
Most helpful and consistent support I have received from a counsellor. Effective at challenging my ways of thinking about situations.
Thank you for being there for me.
I've used Barbara-June's counseling services for a month at a time, 3 different times. I left a review before but I feel the need to leave another one bc I'm at a different place in my life and dealing with a few different issues than last time. This woman follows through. If u get lazy she messages u
Even though I am terrible at keeping up, she always knows how to help push me along in the direction I want to go. I thought my life was over after getting fired, but she is very patient and kind to my very fragile emotional status.
I just started with Barbara-June and feel it is a good beginning. It is good to have an objective person give advice.
I am not very self-motivated, but BJ is always lovely and patient with me and offers wonderful prompts and practical exercises to help me harness and deal with the stressors I present to her. She's helped me more in the past few months than my last counselor did in 2 years of in-person work. I'm so thankful for BJ's guidance and have already recommended her (and BetterHelp) to several people.
Very caring and flexible. Easy to work with.
Barbara is a Godsend. I have waited years for a no nonsense counselor. She is it. She helps you dig deep. I wanted to uncover the things that my mind hid. I knew things but my mind wouldnt allow them to come to surface. I didn't want a counselor that would just coddle me. I dont think there is anyone that wouldnt feel comfortable speaking to her no matter your sexual preference, religion or race.
I think Barbara-June does a really good job at getting me to express myself to her. That’s not easy at all for me. I appreciate it. I have used what I’ve learned so far to take a step toward healing.
I feel like I"m early in the process, but Barbara-June is pretty much exactly who I hoped I'd get assigned to me. She is smart and articulate, and I think she gets what I'm trying to work through. She has shared some great methods with me to help navigate some of my concerns and responds quickly and thoughtfully. I look forward to continuing to work with her.
Very nice polite and insightful
Barbara-June is outstanding. Patient, wise, a great listener and very encouraging. Very proactive in suggesting helpful exercises to address roadblocks or sources of stress. She is very empathetic with me as a chronically ill person facing multiple challenges.
Barbara provides a great listening ear and useful exercises after each session.
BJ has taught me a new way of coping and I am so appreciative.
She’s so kind!
BJ is fabulous. She is incredibly calming and no nonsense. She has a way of shining light on things I need to work on without making me feel defensive. She got me on the right track and feeling better within a few days which is more than I could’ve asked for.
Great counselor was available when needed. Was always quick to respond. While her approach was not for me. I can see it being very beneficial to a lot of people.
Barbara-June Appelgren strikes me as being highly skilled and insightful, as well as flexible in her approach, which I have really appreciated. When I needed to put more focus on a particular aspect of recent difficulties, she meaningfully adapted to my needs and immediately suggested a new approach that I have been finding helpful. She has stayed in communication, checking in to maintain connection and continue working with me during this challenging time in my life. She is empathetic and supportive while focused on a client's progress to overcome pain and difficulties and to emphasize strengths and experiences that will serve the client well in making progress. I sense she genuinely cares about her clients. I highly recommend Ms. Appelgren.
Barbara-June is a kind and wise individual. I've never had luck with therapists, that is until I was matched with BJ. Keep creating and learning, BJ. The world needs more creative healers like you.
She is really great. Gives you the space you need, but is also very helpful in offering many techniques and skills to incorporate. Very empathetic. Very solution oriented.
Really nice, always responds quickly, gives great advice. Would recommend her.
I’ve been working with BJ with my anxiety issues for a few months and am starting to see big improvements. She is very helpful in calming my anxiety and helping me build the confidence to trust myself. She always responds quickly with encouraging helpful tips and reminders.
BJ has been extremely helpful in my path to healing. She responds frequently and quickly and offers sound advice. I highly recommend her.
This is the very first time that I have sought help of this kind. I am extremely satisfied with Barbara. I would love to keep her for a counselor for a long time. I will appreciate the time I do have now.
BJ has been very helpful by providing affective tools for my wife and I. She Always responds in a prompt manner. I would definitely recommend her to anyone!
She’s really helped me a lot. I appreciate her helping me through everything.
I feel she listens well and helps me reframe stressful situations.
She very patiently listens to my problems and offers very practical and simple ways to deal with them. I have started thinking more clearly and not stuck on the biases I had for myself and others.
I spent five years in a toxic therapeutic relationship and at the tail end of that, sought help through BetterHelp. In just over one year, I have made more progress than I ever came close to making previously. BJ is timely in responding. She is the right combination of compassionate and professional. She isn't afraid to call me out when my mind is running rampant down the rabbit hole. She offers invaluable knowledge that has helped me learn to cope with things on my own, instead of always looking to someone else to "fix me." She is consistent and reliable. BH is a wonderful venue, and BJ is a fantastic counselor. I can not adequately express the positive impact this has had on my life.
Barbara-June Appelgren is a great counselor for me! She is very comfortable with my super irregular time schedule wich makes it much more comfortable for me! Her techniques really helped a great deal in coping with my immediate and not so immediate problems! I am really happy I tried betterhelp, especially because I live in germany! We don't have anything compareable here and it would have taken months to get any counseling here!
Barbara has been a tremendous help to me and has given me great insight into my emotions and ways of overcoming them in certain situations. I have used it in my everyday life, and it's really reassuring to see progress and growth within myself. Thanks BJ!
BJ has been a light in my life. When I’m having a panic attack I can send her large messages and she still manages to find time to respond and help. She checks in frequently to make sure I’m ok and offers a variety of options to help me get a handle on my anxiety. Thank you BJ!!
Sometimes it is so important to get an objective view on your thoughts. Although we do not live in a same timezone or even same continent, the problems in human life seem to be universal. I respect the advice I'm given, although my situation is very complex.
Barbara has been an amazing counseller given me the best advice. I would recommend her to anyone.
It was lovely to chat to Barbara-June and I am already feeling more confident about being able to tackle any future worries that may come my way. I also appreciated her book recommendations and meditation technique suggestions, and am sure they will be useful in maintaining a more calm and constant state of mind in our busy lives :)
Very on the spot looking for answers and supportive. She understands my hectic schedule.
Excellent councillor 10/10 thank you!
Barbara responds in a very timely fashion with words of wisdom and good advice. She is very supportive and understanding.
Barbara is very emotionally intelligent and has a warm caring vibe. She is very easy to talk to and I would recommend her to anyone.
Barbara-June is very professional, kind and respectful. I fill comfortable speaking with her about my issues. She is patient and she suggested me very helpful articles and videos. I am happy she is my counselor and I highly recommend her.
BJ is a warm and kind soul. She always messages back on time and listens. She always sends great resources!
I would highly recommend Barbara to anyone. She has been easy to communicate with, responds in a timely fashion, and has provided alternatives for me to work with in my daily life.
I'm truly appreciative of Barbara-June's guidance and "cheer-leading". I needed someone in my corner to confide in. You have filled that role spectacularly. I have recommended this service to my brother-in-law. I think this medium is a great source for busy people. Also by typing I can gather my thoughts and maybe say things I wouldn't disclose face-to-face. Thank you!
I was given a counselor I was looking for, confident, experienced, balanced and with a strong personality. She was a great help to me and I would recommend her to someone I care about.
Barbara help me deal with my emotions through a very difficult period. She not only listened and provided guidance but help me by providing tools to help me work on my relationship.
Working with Barbara-June has been extremely helpful in a time of big changes for me. She's been supportive and she's helped me keep the right direction, I would recommend her to anyone who needs to keep sane while facing life-changing decisions.
BJ was a great help with all the things I've been going through. I can write to her anything I want and she helped me a lot with it. She is fast to reply, understanding, and the exercises she gave totally help with the development I was looking for. Thanks a lot, once again.
Barbara provided some really cool tools for me to articulate and process some things that were upsetting me. She was also super responsive and helpful.
Very good
So far Barbara seems great. I still don't have a very well-formed opinion because I haven't been in touch much, but I'm very confident in her
A lady with womanly wisdom, questions & solutions. Incredible response time and consistency. Thanks!
BJ is a wonderful counselor and is full of hope, joy and love for her clients. It is like talking to a friend, who you have known for years. I thank God for her. Kristi M.
She has been very helpful so far and given me good insight and feedback about my issues.
She is also very quick at responding which is great for me.
Positively pushes me to achieve healthy balance in my life. Provides me with tools to take care of my mental health and to refocus myself. I greatly benefit from working with Barbara-June.
Barbara-June, thanks for being so patient with me.
What a beautiful person I've met in Barbara-June, she managed to heal me, she won where many people have failed.
Barbara-June has entirely shifted my perspective to be more positive. I'm doing so much better now that she's walked me through all the small ways to change my daily patterns and negative habits in thinking. She is an understanding, relaxed counsellor and I'm very lucky to have had her voice in my head.
She rocks!
Barbara-June Applegren is one of the finest person I have had the honor to meet. She is a very understanding and helpful person. I would recommend Barbara-June Applegren to any of my friends seeking help.
Barbara-June Appelgren has been a tremendous help and I can't thank her enough.
I am still in my trial period and cannot say enough of how happy I am with the service and more than anything that I was matched with Barbara-June. She has been such a blessing and I am truly grateful to have her help guide me in the areas in which I need some help.
It's been definitely a great journey with Barbara. She has helped me so much in such little time! We are still not done but she has definitely made me see a lot in a little time. There's been improvements in parts of my life because of it and people have already noticed and I can't even begin to thank her. This has been the best thing that has ever come my way. Hope to continue this journey much longer.
It's been wonderful talking to Barbara-June Appelgren for the past several months. Despite having face-to-face therapy for six months prior to using Better Help, Barbara-June managed to understand me much better after just a few messages. She gave me positive suggestions for moving forward, to get out on my stuckness which I had been feeling for a very long time, to let go of the things that were causing my stress, change my perceptions and has encouraged me to lead a fulfilling life again. Her advice has been eye opening and hugely beneficial at a time when I needed it the most. She's always had a friendly tone and her advice through links, quotes and other personal stories have been so helpful. I often think back to her advice, her words have had a lasting effect and I thank her immensely for that.
BJ is incredibly kind and nonjudgmental. I love the different strategies that she gives me to use outside of our chats. She is truly a gem!
Very professional and a great listener.
Barbara-June has been responsive, sensitive and very helpful to me.
I look forward to her insightful emails. She is helping me to turn my thinking around. I am very grateful.
Barbara-June is wise and so helpful. She's helped me to be confident in myself but also think about things from a different perspective. She replies really quickly too so I always felt supported. Would absolutely recommend her.
Great counselor so far. Says enough to keep me talking and figuring out any problems I have. Also seems warm and to generally care about what I have to say.
From my first communication with Barbara she opened my eyes and helped me see what I needed to do better. Even though we communicate through email I can sense how much she cares and understands what I'm saying and how I'm feeling. She has helped me so much!
Barbara has been a great counselor; she is especially helpful in suggesting ways to reduce my anxiety. She also always replies in a timely fashion.
Barbara has been a great help in my recovery. She is always warm and thoughtful and responds quickly when I message her. She has given me a great deal of insight into my issues and my recovery and I look forward to continuing to work together.
I respect Barbara-June Appelgren so much. She's been a great source of information and possitive guidance during a time I felt aimless. She gives great feedback on ways to tackle your issues. She gave me the feeling I had someone truly neutral in the situation to get me to look at it from a different perspective. I'm blessed to have access to her wealth of knowledge.
Barbara-June Appelgren has been really helpful in the times I've needed it the most. She gives very practical, gentle feedback and advice. She's helped me be more loving and compassionate to myself and also has helped me find better perspectives on the tough stuff that I'm navigating through.
Barbara has been so helpful, caring understanding, and trustworthy. I was not easy about choosing BetterHelp but now I wish more people would choose this type of support. She has definitely helped me on so many different levels. I couldn't have asked for more. Thank you Barbara and BetterHelp for making this possible.
Barbara has been great with me in trying to focus me on a more positive approach to dealing with my anxiety levels. After being divorced several years and still having issues with dealing with my ex, I finally feel like I am starting to be able to deal with it better. Thanks