About Mary
Mary Van Hooser greets people who feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or stuck and want steady support. She uses a calm, down-to-earth style and gives space for people to talk at their own pace. Mary is a licensed independent social worker (LISW) with long experience in mental health care.
She helps people build coping skills and practical strategies for day-to-day life. That includes working through depression, anxiety, bipolar symptoms, addictions, grief, trauma, and stress.
How Mary works
Mary also addresses issues such as low self-esteem, anger, intimacy concerns, compassion fatigue, and caregiver strain. Mary draws on several approaches to match each person's needs. She emphasizes client-centered work that follows the person's lead, uses cognitive behavioral techniques to spot unhelpful patterns, and incorporates dialectical skills for emotional regulation.
Mindfulness and existential ideas are also part of her toolbox when they fit the situation. With 35 years in mental health, Mary has supported people with chronic conditions and those returning to community life after serious illness. She has lived experience related to family mental illness, addiction, LGBTQ and veteran perspectives, and says that background informs her nonjudgmental stance.
Mary aims to reduce stigma and help people feel understood. Sessions focus on clear problem solving and practical steps. Mary listens for strengths, helps people build real coping routines, and works toward goals that matter to each person.
She welcomes conversations about life purpose, isolation, phobias, postpartum depression, first responder and veteran issues, and other concerns.
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.
Also listed
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Compassion fatigue
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- First responder issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Paranoia
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
Training and background
| Register | LISW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 35 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Ohio |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and following the person's lead. In practice this means sessions begin with what matters most to the person and build trust before moving to change strategies; it helps when someone needs a nonjudgmental place to be heard.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and teaches specific skills to change them. CBT can help with anxiety, depression, phobias, and many mood issues by breaking problems into manageable steps.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, teaches emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and better ways to relate to others. Those skills are useful for strong mood swings, impulsivity, or chronic stress and add concrete tools people can use between sessions.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Mary will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't helped before. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online therapy offers flexibility for different needs. Video calls let people see facial cues and have richer conversation, while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for quick check-ins, brief reflections, or when a short written update fits someone’s schedule. These options make it easier to fit regular sessions into busy or complicated lives.
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Common questions
What kinds of concerns does Mary address?
What is her therapeutic style like?
How much experience does she bring to sessions?
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
Which languages and international clients are supported?
What session formats are offered?
How is cost handled for sessions?
How do I start working with Mary?
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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