- Family and parenting focus
- Expressive arts integration
- Practical coping tools
About Mary
Mary Sanders is a Washington-licensed mental health counselor with 17 years of experience. She blends expressive arts and practical talk therapy to help people facing relationship strain, family challenges, trauma, grief, and major life changes. Mary keeps language direct and clear so parents can read quickly and feel understood.
Mary uses creative arts alongside more traditional approaches to make therapy feel less like a lecture and more like a conversation. She has a background in theatre and two decades of experience using drama and expressive arts as part of healing work. That can help when words alone are hard to find.
In community mental health settings she worked extensively with people affected by trauma. Her approach favors careful, phased work that balances emotional safety with strategies to reduce distress. She regularly draws on attachment-based, client-centered, cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing methods depending on what a person needs.
Mary supports individuals across a range of concerns related to family life, including abandonment and attachment worries, communication problems, divorce and separation, and parenting stress. She also helps with guilt, shame, isolation, and midlife questions in straightforward, practical ways.
Her style is collaborative and calm. Sessions focus on clear goals, small steps, and creative options when helpful. Parents who want hands-on tools alongside space to talk about painful experiences may find her way of working accessible and down-to-earth.
How her approaches translate to online care
Mary frequently combines attachment-based ideas with client-centered and cognitive behavioral methods. Attachment-based work focuses on how early relationships shape current patterns and helps people notice and change repeating interactions. Client-centered work puts the person’s goals and experience first, creating a respectful space to talk and be heard. Cognitive behavioral techniques look at thoughts and behaviors and teach concrete skills to reduce anxiety or manage mood.Choosing which approach to use is a shared process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences, try things out, and adjust approaches over time. That collaborative planning helps match methods to what feels most useful for a parent’s life and schedule.
Confirm session formats before booking so you know what is available. Many people find online options make it easier to fit therapy into daily life - for example by avoiding travel, allowing shorter check-ins between obligations, or letting caregivers join without lengthy transit. Online work can still include skill practice, creative exercises adapted for remote sessions, and guided mindfulness or motivational interviewing conversations to support change.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
17+ years
Listed in
Washington
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she help with?
She helps people manage relationship difficulties, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, grief, and major life changes. Additional areas include attachment, communication problems, divorce, guilt, isolation, and social anxiety.
What is her general therapy style?
Her style combines creative arts with talk-based methods and practical skills. Sessions tend to be collaborative, calm, and focused on small, doable steps.
How much experience does she have?
Mary has 17 years of professional experience in private practice and community health settings. She also has about 20 years working with theatre and expressive arts in healing contexts.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC, licensed in Washington and practices in that state.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the United States work with her?
She is not accepting international clients at this time.
How much do sessions cost?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.