Mary Sanders, LCSW, CSW

Mary Sanders is a licensed clinical social worker who focuses on relationship concerns and related challenges. She has 36 years of practice and brings a relational orientation to therapy. Mary emphasizes clear goals and practical steps so people can use their time well and see change.

Her style centers on collaboration. She helps people identify personal strengths and barriers, practices communication skills, and teaches coping strategies that fit everyday life. Mary views self-awareness as a key part of lasting change and invites clients to take an active role in the work.

Mary draws on experience with addictions, grief, trauma, mood concerns, and relationship issues. She also supports people facing caregiver stress, blended family challenges, cancer-related strain, and co-occurring problems. Her background includes long-term practice with family and relationship concerns while also working with individual issues such as anxiety, depression, and self-esteem.

Mary works with people across a range of intimate and interpersonal concerns including intimacy, parenting stress, forgiveness, codependency, and communication breakdowns. She brings a spiritual awareness to sessions without being religiously based, and she adapts to each person's beliefs and values.

In sessions Mary will set clear aims, challenge unhelpful patterns, and model practices she uses herself. She aims to help clients strengthen what’s already working while addressing the habits that get in the way of better relationships and well-being.

Therapeutic approaches and how they translate online

Mary often blends relationship-focused work with client-centered attention and emotionally-focused methods. Imago Relationship Therapy concentrates on how partners interact and helps people learn new communication patterns to reduce reactivity and increase understanding. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes the person's perspective, with the therapist listening closely and following the client's priorities to set goals and pace. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on identifying and reshaping emotional responses in close relationships so people can feel safer asking for what they need.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Mary will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels helpful. She collaborates on a plan and adjusts techniques over time based on what is working and what isn’t.

Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow more consistent check-ins. Because the biography does not list specific session formats, confirm the available options before booking. The focus is on practical benefits - scheduling that fits family or work commitments, shorter check-ins when needed, or sessions that let people participate even when travel is difficult. Licensed professionals can help clients find the right rhythm and approach for sustained progress.