Mary Hargarten , LCSW, LMFT

Mary Hargarten is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with 25 years of clinical experience. She practices in Wisconsin and offers help with common struggles like anxiety, depression, relationship strain, grief, and parenting concerns. Mary focuses on women's issues among a broad set of life challenges and aims to help people find clearer ways to cope.

Mary draws on practical, evidence-based methods to guide conversations in session. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to look at thoughts and behaviors, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to clarify values and action, and Client-Centered techniques to keep the work grounded in each person’s experience. Mindfulness and brief solution-focused steps also appear when they fit a client's goals.

Her approach is warm, straightforward, and respectful. She listens closely, offers ideas, and helps people try small changes that can make daily life easier. Mary encourages exploring family of origin patterns to see how early beliefs shape current choices.

Sessions mix empathy with concrete strategies. Mary helps clients identify strengths and practice new responses to stress, panic, mood shifts, and relationship conflict. She also supports people facing transitions such as midlife change, caregiving strain, postpartum concerns, and the effects of trauma.

Mary values teamwork in therapy. She treats clients as the expert on their lives and partners with them to set realistic goals. Her aim is to help people build skills they can use long after sessions end.

How Mary’s approaches translate to online therapy

Mary commonly uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in her work. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people identify what matters to them, learn to accept hard feelings, and commit to actions that reflect their values; it is useful for anxiety, life changes, and grief. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at how thoughts and behaviors affect feelings and teaches practical skills to reduce panic attacks, depressive patterns, and unhelpful reactions.

Finding the right approach is a joint process. Mary will listen to your goals and try methods that fit your needs and preferences. She adapts techniques as you go, combining mindfulness exercises, values work, or behavior-focused tasks depending on what helps you make steady progress.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexible options for different days. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and skill practice. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when being on camera isn’t wanted. Live chat and text work well for shorter check-ins, homework support, or when scheduling real-time conversation within a busy day. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or other time constraints while keeping the focus on usable steps and steady progress.