Mary Widseth
Practical, family-centered counseling for everyday life
- Credentials
- LPC
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed in
- Minnesota
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Mary
Mary Widseth uses a client-centered approach to help families and individuals find clearer ways to cope and connect. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with seven years of experience. Mary focuses on practical tools that can be used at home and in daily life.
Her style is direct and calm, aimed at helping parents and caregivers handle stress, parenting challenges, and relationship strain. Mary earned a master’s degree in Community Psychology and Rehabilitation Counseling.
Background and approach
She also holds a certificate in Autism. Earlier training included a bachelor’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Wisconsin - Stout. That background led to early work helping adults with cognitive, physical, and communication barriers find and keep work.
Her experience includes two years of in-home therapy for children aged seven to 18 and their families. She also spent two years providing office-based therapy for adults and children. Those roles involved work with diverse backgrounds and a range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism, addictions, and gender diversity issues.
Hands-on skills include supporting communication when language is a barrier, using picture books, rebus boards, and sign language. She has also helped families address behavior and emotional regulation, social skills, and family communication. Her work often focuses on real-life problem solving rather than abstract theory.
Mary brings personal insight to her practice through lived experience with cerebral palsy. That perspective influenced how she finds creative solutions when systems or environments are uneven. She practices in Minnesota and conducts sessions in English.
Therapeutic approaches and what online sessions offer
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding the person's perspective. The therapist offers empathy and supports clients in finding their own solutions, which helps with relationship and parenting concerns. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches straightforward skills to reduce anxiety, manage mood, and change unhelpful patterns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, combines acceptance and change strategies and includes skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and improved communication.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, try techniques in session, and adjust the plan based on what feels most helpful. Clients and caregivers are involved in deciding which methods will best address parenting, family dynamics, or individual needs.
Online therapy with Mary is offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and comfort levels. These options make it easier to attend sessions from home, follow up between meetings, and use strategies in real-life moments. The flexible formats aim to support consistent work on parenting skills, behavior plans, and emotional coping without requiring travel.
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.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Concrete skills for riding out strong emotion, tolerating distress, and handling relationships without things escalating. The skills are practised in daily life, so between-session support by message or phone fits naturally.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Grief
- Hearing impaired
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- Minnesota
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Mary
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point