Mary Downer , LISW

Mary Downer is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in Ohio with 17 years of clinical experience. She focuses on practical, down-to-earth support for people facing stress, anxiety, trauma, depression, and related challenges. Mary emphasizes a respectful, nonjudgmental space where clients' strengths guide progress.

She uses straightforward methods to help people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and to process traumatic experiences. Sessions are collaborative and goal-oriented, with clear steps clients can try between meetings. Mary aims to make therapy feel manageable, not overwhelming.

Her work addresses a wide range of concerns, including ADHD, anger, grief, parenting strain, compassion fatigue, and relationship or communication problems. She also supports people dealing with obsessive thoughts, panic attacks, mood disorders, and issues tied to pregnancy and childbirth. Mary pays attention to the practical barriers that keep people stuck and looks for small, doable changes.

Mary brings experience with trauma-focused approaches to help people work through painful memories and reduce their impact on daily life. She also uses cognitive behavioral techniques to identify thinking patterns and build new coping habits. Together these approaches help with symptom relief and clearer day-to-day functioning.

Mary works with people who identify as LGBT and those navigating isolation or life-purpose questions. She encourages clients to set realistic goals and offers coaching-style support alongside therapy when helpful.

Online work with CBT and trauma-focused methods

Mary uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and then try alternative ways of thinking and acting. CBT is often useful for anxiety, panic, mood concerns, and compulsive behaviors because it breaks things into concrete steps clients can practice between sessions.

She also uses trauma-focused therapy to help people safely process upsetting memories and reduce their day-to-day impact. That approach focuses on telling the story at a pace the client controls and on building coping tools to manage strong reactions.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. Mary will talk with each person about their goals, preferences, and symptoms and recommend ways of working that match those needs. Plans can be adjusted over time based on what helps most.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video lets people work face to face from a distance, phone calls can be a good option when bandwidth is limited, live chat allows shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between meetings. These formats make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into busy schedules.