Empowering women to lead a fulfilling life by building confidence, improving relationships, and discovering their purpose.

Have you ever done that thing where you spent the afternoon with a bunch of close friends and you had a great time! Maybe you all played games, hung out, or did something as a group! Then later that night when you go home you start to wonder… “do they really like me? I wish I hadn’t said that! What if they’re mad at me because I did that really cringe thing?” You start rethinking all the things you said over the last 24 hours and it is overwhelming. 

I know how scary/tough/debilitating it can be to feel insecure about yourself in relationships. All of us long for deep connections with those closest to us, but how do we get that? Some of us try the strategy of meeting other people’s needs, hoping that in turn they might do the same for us (or at the very least that they won’t leave us). But how can they meet our needs when *we* don’t even know what those are yet?

CUE PANIC.

But the story doesn’t have to end there.

Pause for a moment with me and let me paint you a picture of what life could look like. You have a solid group of friends that you treasure and you feel confident in what you bring to those relationships. You leave parties and gatherings feeling at peace that even if you said or did something off, people will talk to you about it.

You go to bed at night content with the life and relationships you have. You trust that people are taken care of and if they need something from you, they’ll ask. You no longer stress about hidden messages people send or what the “right” or “wrong” thing is to do in relationships because you trust yourself to know and those around you to tell you if something is wrong.

It’s possible to learn what you need and for that be a benefit to your relationships. I’ve worked with many women who graduate therapy feeling peaceful, joyful, fulfilled, and confident in themselves and confident that they have the tools to maintain healthy and deep relationships.

I understand how hard it can be to find confidence in yourself. As women we are often taught to put others’ needs before our own. In fact, most of the time we’re taught to not even consider that we have needs. This leaves us in a tough spot when we get older because some of us go on to get married, have children, or get into communities we have deep relationships with. The catch is: how deep can these relationships go if we feel like we are the ones doing all the work? This isn’t the other people’s fault! They don’t know that our go-to strategy is to constantly focus on meeting their needs. But it still leaves a hole. We might get fulfillment from seeing our loved one so happy their need is filled, but eventually that wears on you.

You can’t meet everyone’s needs all the time. You deserve to find your own joy too. I want to help you find the confidence to say: my needs matter too.

I know for myself that I learned to consider everyone else’s needs above my own and that was going to keep me in relationship with other people. As I grew up (and went to therapy), I realized that this feels like a false way of living. How can I be in close relationships with people without being seen/known myself? Constantly meeting other people’s needs made me feel good but also insecure. Wondering, what if I can’t always meet their needs? Will they leave?

In my own therapy I found freedom and confidence in the fact that what I bring to relationships is more than what I do, and I want to help you realize that too. This is why I’ve worked with many women over the years who struggle with people-pleasing and feeling out-of-tune with themselves, so they can gain confidence, find purpose, and lead a fulfilling life. I achieve this by combining the use of my years of experience working with these specific women and using an attachment-based approach to provide a safe, nurturing environment that leads to healing, self-acceptance, and skills to know themselves and their needs better.

If this is something you’re longing for–to finally find confidence in yourself and get in touch with you and what you need–schedule now! I’d love to work with you!

About Stephanie Johnson, LMFT

I’ve been there and done that! I know what it’s like to feel insecure in yourself and your relationships and I know what a toll it takes when you try and stuff those feelings down to meet everyone’s needs but your own. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately) it took me a loooonnnggg time to realize that I’m my own person with my own wants, needs, desires and that’s not only okay but great! After that journey of therapy and grief, I decided I don’t want people to go through the same thing I did–alone. Because what is worse than feeling insecure and anxious? Feeling those things all by yourself.

Over time in my work as a therapist, I also started noticing patterns of women (especially in Christian circles) who were coming to me because they felt unfulfilled in their life and insecure in themselves. They wanted their relationships with themselves and others to be different but they weren’t quite sure how. I saw how most of these women were taught to put others first, to disconnect from who they are, and as a result they were disconnected in their relationships. They didn’t know what was appropriate to ask for from others, they didn’t know how to set boundaries, and how to know what they need in relationships. 

So I made it my life’s ambition to be as knowledgeable and helpful as I can in this area, so that women like me and you don’t have to overcome these hard things all alone. It means the world to me that this ended up being my purpose in life because I love sitting in those hard moments with each one of my clients. I also know what a beautiful and purposeful life my own internal therapy work has given me and that’s why I want to provide that for you too.

My Professional Background

For those that want the straight facts: I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Colorado (MFT.2080)

Education: -I went to Concordia University, Seward and received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences in 2016.

-From there, I went straight into graduate school at East Carolina University and received my Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2018.

Work Experience: In graduate school I worked at our school’s Marriage and Family Therapy clinic as well as a Family Medicine Center and worked with a variety of couples, families, and individuals around PTSD symptoms, relationship conflict, and chronic pain issues. 

After graduate school and until now I have worked at a few group practices throughout the Denver Metro Area. Initially, I was at an Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy group practice where I honed in my skills in working with couples through issues such as infidelity, marital roles, and other variations of relationship conflict.

Since then I have primarily focused my work on couples by doing premarital work, which is just therapy about conflict early on in the relationship so we can address it while it’s more manageable. I have also focused my work with individuals around processing trauma, church hurt, setting boundaries, finding confidence, and reducing anxiety symptoms. 

Trainings: 

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy Externship May 2018

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy Core Skills June 2019

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy and Addictions Master Class  October 2019

  • EFT and Relationship Betrayals October 2020

  • Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy Level 1 February 2021

  • Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy Level 2 September 2021

  • Brainspotting Phase 1 June 2023


Professional Affiliations: Pre-Clinical Fellow, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy

Fun Facts About Me!

-I love baking! I used to hate cooking and baking growing up but now it’s a fun way for me to be creative and make something that is delicious all at the same time! I love that my creativity results in a tasty treat for me (and my husband if I feel like sharing lol)

-I often find a specific topic I’m interested in and then read a lot of books on that subject for a while! Most recently I’ve been interested in women’s health/cycles, so in my free time I read a lot of books about that and how that impacts us in our daily lives!

-I love traveling! I’m realizing more and more how adventure and travel is play for me, so any chance I can get to go to a different state/country and do something adventurous like parasailing, a new cooking class, or paddle boarding—I’m in!

Why Work With Me?

I combine my years of experience in working with women who struggle with people-pleasing or feeling out-of-tune with themselves as well as my knowledge and training in attachment theory to provide women with a unique and nurturing space to process trauma, find healing, improve relationships, build confidence, and create a life they truly love.

Your next step…

I’m so glad you’ve taken the time to read more about me and how I can help you. Now that you’ve read more about me–I’d love to hear about you! If you’d like to move forward, the next step is to give me a call and schedule an appointment. I can’t wait to know you better and help you start achieving your goals!