Maria Grimshaw-Clark , LCSW

Maria Grimshaw-Clark is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 34 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship strain. She is based in Virginia and works with adults who are navigating grief, trauma, mood changes, and challenges around self-esteem and anger. Maria takes a calm, practical approach and focuses on small, usable changes people can try between sessions.

She draws on client-centered therapy to hear what matters most to each person. Maria also uses cognitive behavioral techniques to spot unhelpful thinking and build healthier habits. Mindfulness practices come into sessions when they can help reduce reactivity and increase present-moment awareness.

With decades of experience including family mental health and systems thinking, she pays attention to how relationships and past patterns shape current struggles. She helps people untangle family of origin issues, blended family concerns, caregiving stress, and codependency patterns. Communication problems, infidelity, jealousy, and separation are also areas she often addresses.

Maria integrates tools from Dialectical Behavior Therapy when emotion regulation and coping skills are needed. She also uses principles from the Gottman Method to support people working on relationship repair and improved connection. Sessions focus on practical steps, clearer communication, and building trust in relationships.

People who choose Maria can expect a collaborative, steady presence that combines real-world strategies with attention to feelings. She encourages experimentation with new responses rather than relying on old coping habits. The goal is clearer thinking, stronger relationships, and more emotional balance over time.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Maria uses client-centered therapy to place the person’s concerns at the center of the work. This approach prioritizes listening, reflecting what matters to the client, and shaping sessions around their goals. It is useful when people need a steady, validating space to sort priorities and values.

She also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new ways of thinking and behaving. CBT is often helpful for anxiety, low mood, and patterns that keep problems going. When strong emotions make it hard to cope, elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy can be used to teach concrete emotion regulation and distress-tolerance skills.

Finding the right mix of approaches is a collaborative process. Maria will work with each person to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. Together they track what helps and adjust the plan as progress is made.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when schedules allow. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for a shorter check-in. Live chat and messaging offer a way to stay connected between appointments and to share brief reflections when time is tight.