About Rachel
Rachel McGowan is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) practicing in Massachusetts. She brings 11 years of experience as a clinician and school social worker. Rachel aims to create a warm, nonjudgmental space where people can begin to feel safer talking about what’s hard.
Rachel uses a blend of approaches that match each person’s needs. She draws on client-centered therapy to follow the person’s lead. She uses cognitive behavioral techniques to spot unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors.
How Rachel works
Mindfulness and dialectical skills are added when people need tools for managing strong emotions. Her background includes work in schools and a residential setting where she met people who had experienced physical, sexual, and emotional trauma. That mix of community and residential experience shaped her focus on practical coping skills, distress tolerance, and building routines that support daily life.
Rachel often helps with stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD, mood disorders, panic, post-traumatic stress, and issues around eating, self-esteem, and anger. She also supports people dealing with relationship strain, parenting concerns, identity questions, and major life changes. Sessions are interactive and respectful.
Rachel emphasizes collaboration when setting goals and developing a plan. She believes the relationship between therapist and client is the core of progress and works to make that connection steady and productive.
Rachel lists 7 ways of working on the entry:
What Rachel works with
The areas below are the ones Rachel selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- LGBT
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
Training and background
| Register | LICSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 11 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Massachusetts |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches for online care
Rachel often uses client-centered therapy, which focuses on listening closely and following the person’s priorities to guide sessions. This approach helps when someone needs to feel heard and wants to set the pace for change.She also uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help identify unhelpful thoughts and try different behaviors. CBT is practical for anxiety, depression, panic, and many mood challenges because it breaks problems into clear steps to practice between sessions.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Rachel will talk with each person about their goals, try strategies together, and adjust the plan as needed. The therapist and client work as a team to choose methods that fit the person’s needs and preferences.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video calls let people work face to face from different locations. Phone sessions can fit a break at work or require less bandwidth. Live chat and text messaging are useful for shorter check-ins, brief coaching, or when writing feels easier than talking. These options aim to make it easier to schedule and maintain regular care.
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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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