Mary Messerschmidt
Experienced LCSW focused on practical change
LCSW Virginia
- Experience
- 25 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Addictions, Relationship, Intimacy-related issues
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Languages
- English
About Mary
Mary Messerschmidt is a Virginia-licensed LCSW with 25 years of clinical practice helping people navigate addiction, relationship and intimacy challenges, mood concerns such as bipolar disorder and depression, anxiety and stress, and trauma and grief.
Background and approach
She also works with issues related to self-esteem, parenting, caregiving stress, ADHD, substance use, and a wide range of attachment and personality-related struggles. Her background includes long-term psychotherapy and recent training in life coaching to expand ways of supporting clients through transitions and goal-directed change.
Her approach centers on building an authentic therapeutic relationship that honors each person's life story, paired with skills-based methods to address current problems. Mary blends cognitive behavioral techniques with acceptance-based practices, attachment-informed perspectives, client-centered empathy, and DBT strategies when helpful.
She emphasizes practical interventions while respecting each client's values and pace of change. Sessions are offered in English to residents of Virginia via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, and she does not accept international clients.
Mary’s practice is oriented toward collaborative work to help clients translate difficult experiences into forward movement.
Therapeutic approaches and online care that fit your life
Mary commonly incorporates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) into her practice. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thought and behavior patterns and developing practical strategies to change them, which can help with anxiety, depression, and coping with stress. ACT emphasizes accepting difficult internal experiences while clarifying personal values and committing to actions that support those values, useful for chronic stress, grief, and motivation challenges. She also draws on Attachment-Based Therapy to explore relational patterns and how early bonds affect current relationships.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Mary works with each client to determine which combination of methods fits their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting the plan over time based on progress and feedback.
Online therapy with her uses video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to offer flexibility for different schedules and communication styles. These options make it easier to maintain regular sessions, continue work through life transitions, and access therapeutic support without travel, while allowing therapists to use skills training, coaching exercises, and relational exploration in remote formats.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
25+ years
Licensed
Virginia
Languages
English