About Mary
Mary Van Hooser is a licensed independent social worker who helps people feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, or traumatized. She listens with patience and supports each person at their own pace. Mary focuses on practical ways to feel safer and calmer in daily life.
She brings 35 years of social work experience in mental health to sessions. That background includes helping people manage chronic mood disorders, addiction, and the long-term effects of trauma.
Background and approach
She also draws on lived experience as a family member of people affected by severe mental illness and addiction, which shapes a compassionate, nonjudgmental approach. Mary centers conversations on what actually helps an individual cope. She explores current challenges and past history to build insight.
Together with a client she identifies small problem-solving steps and client-centered strategies to try between sessions. People often describe her presence as calming, and she aims to create a space where people feel able to open up. Mary works with veterans and understands aspects of military culture from her own experience.
She provides support for a wide range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, phobias, grief, caregiver stress, and substance use issues. Her goal is to help people find practical ways to reduce distress and move toward a more stable, fulfilling life.
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and building a trusting relationship so clients feel understood and can explore their own solutions. This approach helps when someone feels overwhelmed, isolated, or unsure how to ask for help. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and teaches clear strategies to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and address phobias.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to decide which methods match their needs, goals, and preferences. That may mean starting with a listening-focused pace and adding CBT skills or DBT techniques if those fit the situation better.
Online sessions make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, while phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or a camera feels uncomfortable. Live chat and text messaging support shorter check-ins, tracking progress, or staying connected between sessions. These options increase flexibility and can help people maintain continuity of care when schedules or locations change.
Questions people ask
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What is her general therapy style like?
How much experience does she have?
What credentials and location apply to her practice?
Which languages and international sessions are available?
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How is cost handled for sessions?
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What this therapist works with
Most often
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
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 35 years
- Licensed
- Ohio
- Languages
- English
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