About Monica
Monica Cesar McGraw is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) based in Massachusetts. She has six years of clinical experience helping people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, grief, or difficult life changes. Monica speaks English and Portuguese and focuses on practical support that fits each person’s life.
Monica uses clear, doable techniques to help people manage anxiety and mood concerns. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness work to teach new ways of noticing thoughts and calming the body.
Background and approach
She also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy strategies for emotion regulation and coping skills when feelings get intense. Her approach is collaborative and down-to-earth. Monica listens first, then tailors a plan with concrete steps people can try between sessions.
She explains concepts in plain language and checks in about what is or isn’t working. Monica has helped people handle trauma, loss, relationship stress, and caregiver strain. She also supports clients facing obsessive thoughts, panic attacks, postpartum mood changes, and chronic health or aging concerns.
Her work includes helping people rebuild confidence and motivation after setbacks. If someone is unsure where to start, Monica helps identify manageable first steps. She aims to make therapy a practical part of daily life by focusing on skills people can use right away.
Practical approaches for online anxiety care
Monica often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people spot unhelpful thought patterns and try different, more helpful responses. CBT is useful for worries, panic, and mood shifts because it focuses on real situations and concrete strategies to change thinking and behavior.She also draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy tools for emotion regulation and distress tolerance. DBT skills are short, action-focused practices that help when emotions feel overwhelming or when impulsive reactions make problems worse. Mindfulness Therapy is used alongside these approaches to build attention and reduce reactivity by teaching simple breathing and noticing exercises.
Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Monica will talk with each person about goals and preferences and then choose or combine methods that fit their situation. She makes decisions with clients rather than prescribing a single path, and she adjusts methods as progress is made.
Online sessions are offered by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video calls let people work face to face for skills practice, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat supports shorter check-ins, and text messaging is useful for ongoing prompts or brief updates. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to try different formats as needs change.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Isolation / loneliness
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Social anxiety and phobia
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 6 years
- Licensed
- Massachusetts
- Languages
- English, Portuguese
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