About Monique
Monique Gardner offers a calm and practical presence for people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, or low self-esteem. Monique uses clear, straightforward tools to help people manage symptoms and build skills. She presents as approachable and focused on real-world coping rather than jargon.
Monique works from Virginia and holds an LCSW, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Monique blends several therapy styles to match each person's needs.
How Monique works
She draws on acceptance and commitment ideas to help people notice painful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. Cognitive behavioral techniques are used to pinpoint unhelpful thinking and practice different responses. Dialectical behavior strategies help when emotions feel intense, offering concrete skills for distress tolerance and emotion regulation.
The practitioner also uses attachment-based and client-centered methods to build a trusting relationship and explore how early patterns affect current interactions. Sessions focus on practical steps and short-term goals as well as deeper exploration when that fits the client's pace. Mindfulness and motivational interviewing are woven into work when they help someone move forward.
Monique has five years of clinical experience, including work with people facing co-occurring conditions, grief, mood and behavioral concerns, eating issues, and trauma. She also lists experience around adoption and foster care, aging concerns, attachment questions, neurodiversity, and caregiver stress. This background informs a flexible approach that adapts to each person's situation.
People can expect collaboration on what to try next and regular check-ins on progress. Monique aims to offer practical coping strategies alongside chances to understand deeper patterns shaping stress and relationships.
Monique lists 12 ways of working on the entry:
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
What Monique works with
The areas below are the ones Monique selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 5 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Virginia |
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
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without being driven by them, then choose actions that match their values; this can be useful for anxiety, depression, and stress. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns through practice and skill building, a good fit for worry and mood concerns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy offers concrete tools for managing intense emotions and distress through skills like distress tolerance and emotion regulation.Choosing a therapeutic approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the person about their goals, needs, and preferences and then try approaches that feel most useful. Adjustments are made over time based on what helps, so the plan can change as progress is seen.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, offering flexibility for different schedules and needs. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions need less bandwidth and can fit a work break or shorter check-in. Live chat or text-based messaging can be helpful for ongoing support or when writing feels easier than speaking. These options make it possible to keep regular contact and practice skills between sessions.
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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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