About James
James Engen is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) based in Minnesota with 11 years of clinical experience. He frames problems as obstacles to a fuller life rather than as labels. He aims to help people clear those obstacles so they can move toward the goals they care about.
Before training as a therapist he held several different jobs, including automotive work and office roles. That variety shaped a practical, down-to-earth style.
How James works
He has also worked with people experiencing housing instability and has run a independent practice helping people shape the lives they want. In sessions he uses a mix of approaches such as client-centered work, narrative methods, psychodynamic thinking, existential questions, and hypnotherapy. He and the client decide together which methods to apply based on the person’s needs and goals.
The focus is on identifying patterns that hold someone back and testing new ways of responding. He helps with concerns like anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, addictions, grief, parenting stress, relationship strain, self-esteem, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and career difficulties. He also addresses issues such as attachment and abandonment, body image, chronic pain and caregiver stress.
James aims for straightforward, practical sessions. He listens, reflects what he hears, and offers tools and perspectives that clients can try between meetings. The work is collaborative and goal-directed, with attention to what matters most to each person.
James lists 8 ways of working on the entry:
What James works with
The areas below are the ones James selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 11 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Minnesota |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches and online care
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and understanding a person's experience without judgment. It helps people feel heard and supports them in identifying their own solutions to problems.Narrative therapy pays attention to the stories people tell about themselves. It helps separate a person from their problems and looks for new storylines that support change and agency.
Psychodynamic therapy looks at recurring patterns that come from past relationships and experiences. It helps people notice automatic reactions and gives space to try different responses in daily life.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about needs, goals, and preferences, and together they will choose methods that feel like a good fit. That collaborative process can include trying different techniques over time to see what helps most.
Online therapy provides flexible ways to connect. Video calls let people meet face-to-face when conversation and nonverbal cues matter. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging can fit quick updates, brief coaching, or ongoing support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to schedule work around life and access care from different places.
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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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