About Bret
Bret Patterson uses a client-centered style that emphasizes respect and collaboration. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Mississippi with four years of counseling experience. He focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, grief, anger, and addictions.
Bret also supports people facing relationship and intimacy-related concerns, parenting strain, and identity questions related to LGBT issues. Before becoming a counselor, he worked 25 years as a paramedic and clinical educator.
How Bret works
That background shapes his calm, practical approach. He listens first, then tailors conversations and plans to each person's needs. Sessions aim to be straightforward and focused on real-life changes.
Bret draws on several approaches to match the problem at hand. He uses client-centered techniques to build trust, cognitive behavioral tools to address thinking patterns, and mindfulness skills to reduce stress. He also incorporates parts of dialectical behavior therapy and the Gottman Method when relationship work is needed.
People often come for help with coping during major life changes, chronic illness or caregiver stress, and workplace burnout or compassion fatigue. He also works with issues like abandonment, codependency, and communication problems. His experience with crisis medicine informs his ability to help people manage strong emotions and acute stress.
Therapy sessions are adapted to each person’s goals and pace. Bret aims to create a straightforward plan you can use between sessions. He encourages small, manageable steps toward better daily functioning and clearer relationships.
Bret lists 8 ways of working on the entry:
What Bret works with
The areas below are the ones Bret selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- Anger management
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 4 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Mississippi |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Approaches that translate well to online therapy
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and responding to each person's needs. In practice this means sessions begin by hearing what matters most to the client and shaping goals together. It helps when someone needs a supportive space to talk through stress, grief, or life changes.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions connect. It uses practical exercises and small homework tasks to change patterns that contribute to anxiety or depression. CBT works well online because those exercises can be practiced between video or text sessions.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. Short coaching-style check-ins and skill practice can be supported through messaging or brief phone conversations when needed.
Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work with each person to choose methods that match their goals, preferences, and needs. That collaboration helps shape a treatment plan that feels manageable and relevant.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect. Video calls are good for full sessions and face-to-face interaction, phone sessions fit shorter check-ins or lower bandwidth, and live chat or text-based messaging can support quick coaching or daily skill practice. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or medical schedules while keeping the focus on practical change.
Start online instead of waiting
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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