Mary Johnston
Compassionate counselor for family and parenting concerns
- Credentials
- LPC
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed in
- Tennessee
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Mary
Mary Johnston is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) practicing in Tennessee. She brings ten years of clinical experience and a calm, nonjudgmental presence to sessions. Her style is warm and straightforward, focused on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, and family concerns.
Parents and caregivers will find practical guidance and steady support when discussing parenting and family challenges. Mary has worked in a range of treatment settings with adults and adolescents.
Background and approach
She has led both individual and group work, and she has experience working with families. Much of her practice has involved treating substance use issues, post-traumatic stress, mood concerns, and anxiety. This background shapes how she approaches complex problems in therapy.
In sessions she listens first and then helps clients set clear, doable goals. She blends client-centered listening with techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Many conversations include concrete steps clients can try between meetings to ease stress and improve family interactions.
Mary aims to make starting therapy less intimidating. She acknowledges how hard the first steps can feel and focuses on building trust and practical progress. Parents who want simple strategies for parenting, blended family challenges, or managing guilt and shame often find her approach helpful.
Her training includes work with solution-focused methods that speed toward small, meaningful changes. She also addresses issues like ADHD, bipolar symptoms, anger, self-esteem, and relationship difficulties. Sessions are offered in English and take place with a clear focus on the client’s priorities.
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding your experience without judgment. The therapist provides acceptance and empathy, helping you find your own direction and build confidence in parenting and family choices.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviors affect feelings. It breaks problems into clear steps and teaches practical skills to reduce anxiety, manage mood changes, and address unhelpful patterns in relationships and parenting.
Solution-Focused Therapy concentrates on small, achievable changes. Sessions aim to identify what is already working and build on those strengths to solve immediate problems like blended family transitions or parenting conflicts.
Choosing a method is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most useful, and then adapt techniques over time. That way the approach matches the person and the problem rather than the other way around.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy family schedules, maintain continuity when life is hectic, and try brief check-ins between longer meetings. Licensed professionals can use these formats to deliver the same therapeutic steps and practical tools as in-person work, while making attendance more manageable for caregivers and parents.
Client-Centered Therapy
The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Rather than examining the problem at length, this looks at what is already working and builds on it. Sessions tend to be practical and forward-looking, with small achievable steps, which translates readily to shorter online conversations.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Guilt and shame
- LGBT
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- Tennessee
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Mary
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point