About Spencer
Spencer Porter, MD, LCSW-C brings four decades of professional experience to his work in Maryland. He focuses on stress and anxiety and helps people facing depression, grief, relationship strain, and major life changes. He aims to create a calm, attentive space where people can say what matters and begin to work through hard feelings.
He draws on long experience listening carefully and making room for each person's story. Early work alongside a Chinese acupuncturist shaped his respect for silence as well as speech.
Background and approach
That background informs a gentle approach that balances direct conversation with quiet reflection. Porter believes everyday problems often contain their own solutions. Therapy begins by noticing what is missing and what is present in daily life.
From there he helps people reallocate energy toward healing, creativity, and connection rather than getting stuck in worry or avoidance. Sessions pay attention to how past experience influences current reactions. He helps people identify patterns that drain energy and small practical moves to regain it.
This includes building coping routines and clearer ways to express needs in relationships. Compassion, respect, and steady attention are central to his work. He invites people to tend fearful, grieving, or angry parts with care.
The goal is to open up more reliable ways of living and to find a voice for feelings that have been hard to name.
How therapeutic methods translate to online care
He uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques that emphasize attentive listening and clear skill-building. One approach focuses on noticing and changing patterns that feed anxiety and stress by identifying small, practical behaviors to shift daily routines. Another approach centers on working through grief and loss with gentle pacing so feelings can be named and gradually processed rather than pushed away.Deciding which approach fits best is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful, then try methods together and adjust as needed. Treatment is shaped by what the client notices is working in day-to-day life.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited, and messaging or live chat support shorter check-ins or ongoing reflection between sessions. These options give flexibility for different rhythms of work, caregiving, and life demands, while keeping the focus on practical steps to reduce anxiety and cope with change.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- Experience
- 40 years
- Licensed
- Maryland
- Languages
- English
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