Therapist profile
Mary Van Hooser, LISW
LISW helping adults with family and mental health concerns
Continue with MaryAbout
- Addictions support
- Grief and loss
- Mindfulness and CBT
About Mary
Mary Van Hooser is an Ohio licensed independent social worker (LISW) with 35 years of experience. She works with adults who feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or traumatized and need practical coping skills. Her practice also covers addiction, mood disorders, grief, stress, anxiety, and family concerns.
Mary listens at a patient pace and helps people talk about mental health without stigma. She draws on long clinical experience and her own life experience as a spouse, parent, and sibling to relate to everyday struggles. She notes lived experience with a sibling's severe mental illness and a family member's substance use, and she is a military veteran who understands some veteran culture.
Her style is straightforward and client-centered. She invites people to describe what helps them feel calmer and then builds problem-solving steps together. Mary uses techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy when they fit the situation, and she also includes mindfulness and existential perspectives to help people think about values and meaning.
She often supports people managing chronic mental health conditions and those rebuilding life in the community. She also works with family members of people in recovery, helping them cope with caregiver stress, guilt, and the practical realities that come with supporting someone with serious illness.
Mary aims to reduce stigma and offer practical skills. Conversations tend to focus on current problems and useful strategies to make daily life easier and more manageable.
How sessions work
How Mary integrates therapeutic approaches online
Mary commonly uses client-centered work to focus conversations on what matters to the person. This approach emphasizes listening carefully and letting the client set the pace while the therapist reflects and helps clarify priorities.She also draws on cognitive behavioral therapy to identify unhelpful thoughts and to develop concrete coping skills. CBT techniques are useful for anxiety, depression, and many stress-related problems. Dialectical behavior therapy is another tool she uses for emotional regulation and building distress tolerance when strong feelings interfere with daily life.
Finding the best approach is part of the process. Mary works collaboratively to match methods to a client's goals and preferences, and she adjusts those methods over time as needs change. That means techniques might be practical skill-building one week and values-focused conversation the next.
Please confirm the specific online session formats available before scheduling, since the biography does not list them. Many people find online sessions helpful because they can fit appointments around work, caregiving, or other commitments, avoid travel time, and choose quieter surroundings. Therapists can also adapt sessions to be shorter check-ins or longer discussions depending on what a person needs that week.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
35+ years
Listed in
Ohio
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she help with related to family life?
She works with adults on family stress, caregiver issues, grief, and problems that come from a loved one’s addiction or serious mental illness.
What is her therapeutic approach like?
She uses a client-centered approach and mixes practical techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy when helpful. Mindfulness and existential ideas are also part of her work.
How much clinical experience does she have?
Mary has over 35 years of experience as a social worker in mental health settings and has supported people with both acute and chronic concerns.
What credential and location are listed?
She is an Ohio LISW and practices from Ohio.
Are sessions offered in other languages or internationally?
Sessions are offered in English and Mary accepts international clients.
What session formats are available?
Please confirm current session format options before booking, as the biography does not specify which formats are used.
How are session fees handled?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.