Mary Blankenburg , LISW

Mary Blankenburg is a licensed psychotherapist with 35 years of clinical experience who focuses on helping people navigate stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, relationship challenges, and a range of emotional and behavioral concerns. She emphasizes the therapeutic relationship as a core force for change, building alliances that allow clients to explore their emotional lives and personal histories in a thoughtful and paced way.

Her career includes work in community mental health settings, services for adolescents and families, and a long-standing private practice spanning thirty years. Mary holds an LISW - Licensed Independent Social Worker - and brings that expertise to individual, couples, family, and group therapy work. Her practice attends closely to trauma effects and supports post-traumatic growth while addressing symptoms of depression, anxiety, personality disorder traits, and co-occurring issues such as addiction and chronic stress.

Mary integrates mind-body awareness into her therapeutic approach, drawing on movement and an understanding of the autonomic nervous system to help clients identify cues of safety and regulation. She uses trauma-focused skills, including EMDR and gentle movement techniques, alongside developmental, cognitive, and attachment-based frameworks to change how past toxic experiences relate to present life. Throughout this work she emphasizes increasing self-kindness, slow remediation of trauma effects, and collaborative, paced progress that feels manageable and meaningful.

Mary practices from Iowa and brings decades of experience and a compassionate, practical style to supporting clients as they work toward greater well-being and resilience.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Mary blends evidence-informed approaches to support change in ways that fit each client's needs. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify personal values and take committed action even when difficult thoughts or feelings arise - it is useful for stress, anxiety, and life transitions. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current patterns of connection and emotion regulation - it is often helpful for relationship difficulties, attachment wounds, and intimacy-related concerns. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and collaboration so clients feel heard and supported while exploring personal goals and self-understanding.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Mary works with clients to identify which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting strategies over time so therapy remains attuned and effective for the individual.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility for people with busy schedules, mobility limits, or geographic distance. Through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, licensed professionals can maintain continuity of care, adapt session formats to client needs, and make therapeutic work more accessible without compromising the relational focus that Mary emphasizes.