Mary Sanders
Supportive therapist blending CBT and creative methods
LMHC Washington
- Experience
- 17 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Relationship, Family, Trauma and abuse
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Attachment-Based Therapy
- Languages
- English
About Mary
Mary Sanders is a Washington-licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 17 years of clinical experience blending cognitive behavioral ideas with relational and expressive approaches. She draws on CBT alongside attachment-based and client-centered methods to address relationship strain, family conflict, trauma and abuse, grief, and life transitions.
Background and approach
Her background in the arts informs a creative sensibility in therapy, and she has longstanding experience using theatre and expressive arts as part of healing work. Sanders has worked in both independent practice and community health settings, bringing experience supporting people affected by trauma and loss.
She emphasizes a collaborative, nonjudgmental atmosphere where thoughts and feelings can be explored openly. In addition to psychotherapeutic methods, she offers perspective on complementary areas like nutrition and CAM as part of a broader approach to wellbeing.
Clients who seek help with abandonment and attachment issues, communication problems, divorce or separation, guilt and shame, isolation, life purpose, midlife concerns, post-traumatic stress, or social anxiety may find her blended clinical style useful. She aims to guide each person toward practical strategies and greater emotional clarity while respecting individual pace and goals.
Integrating therapeutic approaches in online care
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps people identify and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns, offering practical tools for anxiety, social phobia, grief reactions, and coping with life changes. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early and current relational patterns affect emotional responses and close relationships, which can be useful for addressing abandonment, attachment issues, and communication problems. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes a collaborative, empathic relationship in which the therapist provides acceptance and reflective listening to support the client's own problem solving and growth.
Finding the right approach is often a process rather than a one-time decision. The therapist works collaboratively with each person to assess needs, goals, and preferences, then tailors methods and pacing so the work feels like a good fit. This ongoing partnership helps refine which techniques are most helpful as therapy progresses.
Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility for different schedules and comfort levels. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care, try different formats, and fit therapeutic work into everyday life while working with licensed professionals who adapt evidence-informed methods to remote settings.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
17+ years
Licensed
Washington
Languages
English