Stephanie Des Chenes MSW, LICSW

My journey in social work began in 2008 with a BSW and a desire to understand and support young people navigating some of life’s most difficult circumstances. Early in my career, I worked with Vermont’s runaway and homeless youth and their families, an experience that shaped my understanding of the profound impact that relationships, trauma, and life experiences can have on how we move through the world.

I went on to earn my MSW from Boston University, with a focus on Trauma and Family Systems, and continued to broaden my clinical experience through work in hospital and residential treatment settings before transitioning into private practice. These experiences have given me the opportunity to work with people across a wide range of circumstances and have reinforced my belief that there is no single path to healing—and no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy.

Today, I bring not only my professional education and clinical experience to my work, but also my lived experience as a mother of three school-aged children. While my personal experiences are not the same as those of my clients, they have deepened my appreciation for the complexities of balancing relationships, family, work, identity, and the many transitions that shape our lives. Together, my education, clinical experience, and lived experience inform an approach that is compassionate, grounded, and deeply human.

At the heart of my work is the belief that healing is not about becoming someone new - it is about recovering parts of yourself that may have been lost, overlooked, or buried along the way. My hope is that every client who enters this space feels safe enough to be fully themselves and empowered to move forward toward greater wellbeing.