About Mary
Mary Stein is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) based in California. She has 27 years of clinical experience helping people who struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, addictions, grief, relationship and intimacy concerns, and parenting challenges. Her style is warm and interactive.
Sessions are respectful and straightforward. She listens first, then helps people decide which steps make sense next. Mary blends person-centered care with practical tools.
How Mary works
She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people spot unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and mindfulness to teach emotional regulation and distress management. She has practiced in personal settings and in community programs, including adolescent residential work and a domestic violence agency.
That background shaped her focus on safety, coping skills, and communication. In a first session Mary explores what brought someone to therapy. Then she and the client set practical goals and try small steps that build into larger change.
Her approach emphasizes collaboration, kindness, and steady problem-solving. Mary works with a wide range of life issues - from eating and sleeping problems to caregiver strain, chronic illness, career changes, and complicated family histories. She aims to help people increase self-awareness, improve relationships, and manage life transitions more effectively.
Mary lists 8 ways of working on the entry:
What Mary works with
The areas below are the ones Mary selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 27 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | California |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Approaches that guide online sessions
Mary frequently uses Client-Centered Therapy, CBT, and DBT in her online work. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on building a respectful, accepting relationship so people can explore goals and make decisions that fit their life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors to reduce anxiety, depression, or problematic habits. Dialectical Behavior Therapy offers skills for regulating intense emotions, tolerating distress, and improving interpersonal effectiveness.Choosing a therapeutic approach is collaborative. Mary starts by talking about what matters most to the person and tries techniques that match those needs. Together they review what feels useful and adjust methods as work progresses so the plan fits the client’s goals and preferences.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation for deeper discussion and skills coaching. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for brief updates, skill practice between sessions, and people who prefer typing. These options help make regular care easier to fit into busy schedules.
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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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