About Mary
Dr. Mary Weeden is a licensed clinical social worker with thirty years of experience. She combines a background in nursing with social work skills to help people manage anxiety, stress, grief, depression, and eating concerns.
Mary uses straightforward, compassionate conversation to make it easier to talk about hard things. She keeps sessions down to earth so someone feeling overwhelmed can follow along and make steady progress. Her approach draws on Attachment-Based Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy among other methods.
Background and approach
In practice this means paying attention to relationship patterns, looking at unhelpful thoughts, and trying small behavior changes that add up over time. She also brings elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Emotionally-Focused Therapy when needed. Those methods help people tolerate strong emotions, improve communication, and repair strained bonds with others.
Over the years Mary has worked with many people facing loss, caregiver strain, body image and eating issues, and midlife transitions. Sessions focus on practical steps, coping skills, and understanding underlying patterns so people can feel more in control. Her style is calm and encouraging.
She aims to empower people to set realistic goals and take manageable steps toward change. The work is collaborative and paced to each person's needs.
Online approaches that focus on relationships and thoughts
Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how past and present relationships shape current feelings and behavior. It helps people notice patterns in close relationships and try new ways of responding to reduce anxiety and mistrust. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It helps people identify unhelpful thoughts, test them, and practice small behavior changes to lower anxiety and improve mood. Emotionally-Focused Therapy centers on emotions in relationships and helps people express needs and build stronger emotional bonds.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences, then recommend one or a mix of methods. That plan is revisited as therapy continues so the approach can shift with changing needs.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video lets the therapist and client see each other and practice communication skills. Phone calls can be easier when internet bandwidth is limited. Live chat or text messages work for quick check-ins, shorter coaching-style support, or for people who prefer not to be on camera. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep momentum between sessions.
Questions people ask
What concerns does she commonly help with?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her professional background?
What credentials and region are listed?
Can sessions be conducted in other languages?
What session formats are available?
How does payment and cost work?
How do I begin working with her?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Grief
- Eating disorders
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Eating and food-related issues
- Family of origin issues
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 30 years
- Licensed
- Illinois, Wisconsin
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.