Charlene Thiede

Charlene Thiede is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in both Michigan and Iowa with 37 years of experience. She brings a long history of work across school and clinical settings to her therapeutic practice.

She employs a person-centered, strengths-based approach that begins with where a person is now and builds on existing resources to support meaningful forward movement. Her style emphasizes collaboration and practical steps tailored to each individual’s goals.

Charlene has training in a range of clinical approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Play Therapy for children, and Solution-Focused Therapy, among other methods. She works with the issues clients bring forward to help identify the specific changes they want to make in their lives.

She began her career as a School Social Worker, an experience that provided insight into the challenges children face in educational settings and led her to specialize in work with children and their families. She later provided behavioral health counseling to children, adolescents, and adults in a private mental health clinic and then in a large family service agency.

Her aim in each counseling session is for clients to leave feeling more hopeful and more confident in their ability to move forward. A receptionist once told her that clients arrive looking sad and leave with a smile—a compliment that warmed her heart.