About Gretchen
Gretchen Raring is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 24 years of experience. She brings steady, practical guidance when life feels overwhelming. Her style is warm and direct, focused on helping people make changes that fit their day-to-day lives.
Gretchen uses straightforward conversation and hands-on tools. She blends Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and attachment-focused ideas to help people notice patterns and try new ways of responding.
How Gretchen works
Sessions typically include discussion, skill practice, and simple homework to reinforce what was learned. Her background includes long-term work in mental health and addiction settings. That experience shapes a pragmatic approach to problems such as anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and relationship struggles.
She pays attention to how stress, sleep, and daily routines affect mood and functioning. Gretchen adapts her methods to match each person’s goals and pace. She emphasizes collaboration and respect, so people feel heard while also working toward concrete goals.
She helps people build coping skills, improve communication, and regain a sense of control during life changes. Sessions are offered in English and delivered online by phone or video, or by live chat and text messaging. Gretchen practices in New Jersey and uses a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
To begin, a short matching questionnaire is completed and scheduling follows based on therapist availability.
Gretchen lists 11 ways of working on the entry:
What Gretchen works with
The areas below are the ones Gretchen selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Registers | LICSW, LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 24 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | New Jersey |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care
Gretchen often draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, and to clarify personal values that guide change. She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and practice new behaviors that reduce anxiety and depression. Emotionally-Focused ideas about attachment guide work on relationship patterns and emotional connection when that is a focus.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences and suggest which methods to try first. Clients and therapist revisit what is or isn’t helping and adjust the plan collaboratively as progress is made.
Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and nonverbal cues, while phone sessions can be useful when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging support brief check-ins, coaching-style guidance, or ongoing skill practice between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and to keep continuity of care across life changes.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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