About Mary
Mary Lee Palmer is a licensed clinical social worker with 41 years of experience helping people face anxiety, depression, relationship strain, and addiction. She uses a warm, interactive style that can feel straightforward and down-to-earth. Her manner often includes gentle humor and a focus on respect and sensitivity.
Palmer has worked in psychiatric hospitals and independent practice, and she has experience across a wide age range. Her background includes leadership roles on child and adolescent units and work with people managing bipolar disorder and chronic health challenges.
Background and approach
That experience informs how she tailors care to each person. Her work blends Client-Centered Therapy with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness Therapy, along with Psychodynamic and Emotionally-Focused ideas. She explains options and helps people decide what to try first rather than following one fixed method.
Sessions are collaborative and geared toward real-life changes. Typical concerns brought to her include grief, intimacy-related issues, parenting strain, sleeping problems, self-esteem, and coping with life changes. She also addresses trauma and abuse, anger, communication problems, and substance use concerns in practical, step-by-step conversation.
Mary supports LGBT clients and people dealing with complex relationship topics such as infidelity, commitment questions, blended family dynamics, and BDSM or alternative sex culture concerns. She views every person as more than a label and works to build a plan that fits their goals.
How her approaches shape online therapy
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the person’s own goals and experience, using listening and reflection to help someone feel understood and clear about what they want to change. It’s useful for relationship concerns, self-esteem, grief, and figuring out next steps. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at thoughts and actions that keep problems going and teaches practical skills to shift them; it is often used for anxiety, depression, sleep struggles, and stress. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) helps people identify and shift the emotions that underlie relationship patterns and attachment concerns, which can help with intimacy and communication issues.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss options and try methods that match the person’s needs and goals. Decisions are made together, and the plan can change as progress is seen or new issues arise.
Online formats available include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a good choice when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging make it easier to fit brief check-ins into a busy day or to process thoughts between sessions. These options increase flexibility and help people keep therapy consistent around work, family, and travel.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 41 years
- Licensed
- Georgia
- Languages
- English
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