Mary-Louise Henson , LMFT

Mary-Louise Henson is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 25 years of clinical experience. She focuses on women's issues alongside stress, anxiety, relationships, family concerns, depression, and major life changes. She aims to make the first step feel manageable and supports people through difficult moments.

Her approach is direct and practical. She helps people talk through what is happening now and identify small changes that make daily life easier. Sessions focus on what a person wants to change and concrete steps to get there.

Mary-Louise uses a mix of techniques that fit the person rather than a one-size-fits-all plan. She draws on cognitive behavioral methods to spot unhelpful thinking patterns. She also uses mindfulness practices to help with stress and Solution-Focused work to set clear goals and track progress.

She has long experience addressing relationship and family tensions, including blended family issues, communication problems, infidelity, and divorce or separation. She also assists with body image, eating and food-related concerns, codependency, guilt and shame, and feelings of isolation.

Clients often come for help with life purpose, midlife transitions, and coping after military-related experiences. In sessions she listens, reflects, and offers practical tools people can try between meetings. Her style is straightforward, warm, and aimed at steady progress.

Approaches that translate well to online therapy

Mary-Louise commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. CBT is practical and often includes simple exercises to do between sessions, which works well over video or messaging.

She also draws on mindfulness therapy, teaching breathing and attention practices to reduce stress and calm anxiety. Mindfulness techniques can be guided in a live session or practiced using short recordings or written prompts between meetings.

Solution-Focused Therapy is another tool she uses to set clear goals and identify small, achievable steps. This approach keeps sessions goal-oriented and makes progress easy to track remotely.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work together. She will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match needs, goals, and preferences and will adjust the plan as progress is made.

Online formats offer flexibility for busy schedules. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can fit a short break at work or require less bandwidth. Live chat and text-based messaging make it possible to check in between sessions and keep momentum on difficult days.