- Mind-body focus
- Practical coping skills
- Trauma informed care
About Mary
Mary Gales-Wenz is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) with four decades of practice in behavioral health. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, addiction, trauma, grief, and mood concerns. Her approach centers on listening and practical steps to make daily life feel more manageable.
Mary draws on experience from hospital outpatient and inpatient settings. She spent 20 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs and later worked in community mental health, addiction treatment, and clinical supervision for residential settings. Since 2009 she has maintained a small private practice in Minnesota.
Her work often addresses post-traumatic stress, depression, and substance use alongside chronic pain or illness. She pays attention to how the body and mind interact and helps clients learn ways to reduce physical and emotional strain. Sessions typically focus on skills people can use between visits.
Mary uses a mix of client-centered approaches and structured methods such as cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavior strategies, emotionally-focused work, and mindfulness practices. These are used to help with coping skills, emotional regulation, and changing unhelpful patterns.
She speaks English and has worked with adults, seniors, and adolescents in a range of treatment settings. Her background includes work in hospitals, community clinics, and addiction treatment centers, which informs a practical, experience-based style of care.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and following the client's lead. Online sessions guided by this approach focus on the client's concerns and priorities, with the therapist helping to shape next steps based on what matters most to the person. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks problems into thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. In online sessions CBT often uses short exercises and homework to change unhelpful thinking and improve sleep, mood, or anxiety. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers concrete skills for emotion regulation and distress tolerance. Delivered online, DBT techniques can help with managing strong emotions and improving day-to-day coping.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, symptoms, and what techniques feel most useful, then try methods that fit those needs. That collaborative process helps tailor care over time rather than committing to a single method at the start.
Confirm the available session formats before booking, as this profile does not list specific delivery options. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when a quick update is needed. They also let people use practices learned in sessions in the context of everyday life, such as sleep routines or mindfulness exercises, without promising any particular outcome.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
40+ years
Credentials
Minnesota
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she commonly address?
She helps with stress, anxiety, sleep problems, addictions, trauma, grief, depression, and related mood concerns.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is practical and person-focused, combining listening with skills-based work to help people manage symptoms day to day.
How long has she been practicing?
She has 40 years of experience in a variety of behavioral health settings, including hospitals and community clinics.
Where is she based and what credential does she hold?
She is based in Minnesota and holds a Minnesota Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker credential (LICSW).
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can she work with clients outside the United States?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How are sessions scheduled and what do they cost?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
What are the steps to begin therapy?
Choose the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a session based on the therapist's availability.