Mary Anne Byrnes

I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who sees teens and adults for individual, couples, or some family therapy in the state of Tennessee. I work with clients experiencing anxiety, depression, any type of relationship stress, trauma, narcissistic abuse, ADHD and life transitions. I most enjoy working with attachment and relationship patterns.

“LEARN from yesterday. LIVE for today. HOPE for tomorrow.”

My Bachelor’s degree in Social Work taught me to conceptualize client care by looking at the “person in their environment,” meaning looking at how past and present factors in the client’s environment have shaped the person into who they are today. My Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy took a very similar approach at truly understanding clients based on their life experiences and how those experiences shaped them. By increasing awareness, clients become empowered to recognize unwanted patterns when they surface. This allows them to choose appropriate coping strategies and respond in ways they can feel proud of and that can potentially move them towards more desirable outcomes.

I have nearly 20 years of combined bachelor’s and master’s level experience working in the field of mental health. I worked with at risk youth and their families with community mental health clinics as an intensive in home therapist. I have a variety of internship experiences. And I have worked with individuals, couples and families in my private practice for therapy since January 2011. In 2020 I moved all my work to online Telehealth therapy and have stayed with this platform since that time. Telehealth has made therapy more accessible and consistent, even for my clients who were initially apprehensive about it.

I hope to make therapy as fun for my clients as it is productive. I’m very laid back, accepting and have heard just about everything at this phase in my career. I see my role as being someone to walk along side my clients to help them think through things with an extra set of trained eyes. I pride myself in meeting clients where they are and working with them at their individual pace. I take a collaborative approach, viewing my clients as the experts in themselves. We will work together as a team to merge my education and training with your real life daily experiences and concerns. I utilize several different therapy modalities. Attachment Theory is the lens I work from the most. I’m also trained in EMDR.

In your first session with me, we will first review my practice policies. I like to prepare my clients for what they can expect from me throughout the process so you are prepared for how to best navigate those policies as they work best for you. I might have some specific follow up questions from your intake paperwork and assessments. From there, I will offer for you to take the floor for the remainder of the session for whatever you would like to cover. Or, if it is more comfortable for you, I will guide you through getting started with some specific questions about yourself and your treatment goals.

Every session will be conducted at the same link each time, so no need for new invitations each week. You can complete each session from anywhere in the state of TN, which makes therapy much more easy to access. In each session I often take notes to help sort through and organize your information over time. Some clients come in with a lot to get off their chest initially. I’m perfectly comfortable with navigating that.

I hope to create an environment for you that truly feels like YOUR space, where you can truly be seen, heard, and understood. I am always open to any feedback or requests you might have that will help us accomplish that in your sessions.