Susan Johnson, LMSW

Susan Johnson is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in Michigan with ten years of experience. She focuses on stress, anxiety, relationships, trauma and abuse, self esteem, and depression. She also pays attention to life purpose, attachment and abandonment concerns, communication problems, and issues often faced by young adults and women.

Susan earned her Master of Social Work from Western Michigan University, where she specialized in trauma. She has worked across child welfare settings and with people who have faced a range of difficult experiences. Her background includes supporting parents through pregnancy and childbirth and work related to infant mental health.

In sessions she emphasizes relationship-based ways to rebuild trust and to process hard memories. She uses approaches that help people process trauma and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. Conversations are straightforward and focused on practical steps clients can try between meetings.

Susan has experience with Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) to improve caregiver-child connection, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for working through traumatic memories, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for symptom-focused change. She adapts these approaches to the concerns people bring, including parenting stress and post-traumatic stress.

People who feel stuck after a job change, relationship shift, or major life event will find her work oriented toward clarifying next steps. She helps clients notice where old patterns limit choices and practices different ways of relating that can support new decisions.

Approaches for processing trauma and finding direction