Tolana Murphy , LPC, LCPC

Tolana Murphy is a licensed counselor with dual credentials as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LCPC). She brings a decade of clinical experience across a range of settings, including intensive outpatient programs for adolescents, inpatient detox units for substance use, and community mental health services for adults with severe mental illness. Her work has included supporting individuals through first psychotic breaks, providing medication-assisted treatment, and facilitating both individual and group therapy.

Over the course of her career she has supported hundreds of people facing depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and loss, mental illness, and addiction. Her approach is intentionally eclectic - she blends techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with brief, solution-focused, and person-centered methods to tailor care to each person’s needs. Tolana emphasizes careful, compassionate engagement with the goal of understanding the whole person rather than focusing solely on symptoms.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The University of Toledo and a Master of Arts in Counseling from Spring Arbor University. Tolana’s clinical background spans outpatient and inpatient care, group work, and community-based services, equipping her to assist clients through a wide variety of life challenges and transitions.

Integrating Therapeutic Approaches in Online Care

Online sessions with Tolana draw on well-established approaches tailored to each person’s situation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and reshaping unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and is often used for anxiety, depression, and stress-related concerns. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps clients clarify their values, accept difficult emotions, and take committed action toward meaningful goals, which can be useful for coping, relapse prevention, and life transitions. Client-centered therapy emphasizes empathic listening and collaboration, giving clients space to explore their experience while the therapist provides nonjudgmental support and reflection.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Tolana works collaboratively with each person to determine which methods fit their goals, preferences, and circumstances, and she integrates techniques as needed rather than relying on a single model. This partnership helps shape a personalized plan for progress.

Online therapy offers practical benefits for accessibility and scheduling. Video calls allow face-to-face interaction from home, phone sessions provide straightforward conversation without video, and live chat or text-based messaging can support more frequent check-ins or a lower-intensity option between sessions. These formats can make it easier to maintain continuity of care while accommodating busy lives and varied needs.