- 35 years experience
- Focus on addictions
- Client-centered care
About Mary
Mary Brahm is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) with 35 years of clinical experience. She brings a direct, practical style and a focus on real-life change. Mary aims to help people regain balance after addiction, loss, or big life shifts.
Her work draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, and client-centered methods. She helps people address addictions, codependency, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma, and relationship problems. She also supports those coping with grief, parenting stress, career concerns, and compassion fatigue.
Mary has long experience in military and veteran-related settings and spent many years working with servicemen, civilian personnel, retirees, and their households. Her background includes community mental health, senior therapy roles, and work in behavioral health and substance use services. That experience informs how she notices patterns and designs practical steps for change.
Sessions emphasize building trust, identifying triggers, and changing the thinking or behavior that keeps problems going. She uses goal-focused psychotherapy, relapse prevention skills, and recovery-aftercare practices when relevant. Mary also integrates multicultural awareness from years of living and working around the world.
Mary holds an Illinois LCPC credential. She speaks English and practices in Illinois. To begin, prospective clients select Start Therapy, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to therapist availability.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online work
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It is useful for depression, anxiety, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting and changing thought and behavior patterns that keep problems going, which can help with mood, anxiety, and relapse prevention. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma-focused method that aims to reduce the intensity of distressing memories and their emotional impact.Finding the right approach is part of treatment. The therapist will work collaboratively to match methods to the client's concerns, goals, and preferences. That might mean trying an ACT exercise, practicing CBT skills between sessions, or using trauma-focused work if needed.
The biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm current options before booking. Online work can make therapy fit into busy lives by cutting travel time, allowing shorter check-ins when needed, and making it easier to schedule around work or caregiving. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises, mindfulness practices, and behavioral experiments to a virtual setting so progress continues even when life is busy.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
35+ years
Credentials
Illinois
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Mary commonly address?
She works with addictions, codependency, depression, bipolar disorder, trauma and abuse, relationship and intimacy issues, grief, parenting strain, career questions, and compassion fatigue.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is straightforward and practical. She uses client-centered work alongside ACT and CBT to set goals and practice new ways of coping.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 35 years of experience in behavioral health, substance use, and community mental health settings, including work with military-connected populations.
What credentials and region are listed for this therapist?
She is an LCPC licensed in Illinois and practices in Illinois.
Which languages are supported and are international clients accepted?
Sessions are offered in English and international clients are not currently accepted.
What session formats are available?
The original biography does not specify session formats; please confirm current session options before booking.
How is cost handled for sessions?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with this therapist?
Use the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to the therapist's availability.
Profile details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. Credential and registration rules differ between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.