Mary Stoops

Hi, my name is Mary Stoops and I'm a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Maryland. Thank you for reading my Headway therapist bio. I hope it's helpful.

A little bit about my background, I completed a bachelors degree in 2004, majoring in psychology and behavioral health at the University of Maryland. In 2007, I received my masters degree in clinical community counseling from Johns Hopkins University. After years of internships, trainings, and clinical supervision, I became a fully licensed therapist in 2010. For many years I worked in the field of substance use/addiction treatment. I was drawn to this work because of my family history of alcoholism. After doing this for a very long time, I wanted to reach more people struggling with mental health problems associated with, anxiety, depression, and trauma/PTSD.

I work with adults age 18 and older.

Have you ever heard this saying, learning to be or hoping "to be the best version of yourself"? I know it's kind of played out and I can't take credit for coining this phrase, but it really applies to how I help people. If you can relate, maybe ask yourself what might be standing in your way?

Is it fear, or uncertainty about how to respond to someone, or get out of a bad situation? Do you feel as though you have no control over your thoughts and emotions? Have you been struggling with any symptoms, situations, or circumstance(s) that really get you down? These and more are barriers to becoming or living that best version of yourself. I'd like to help you.

Together we can determine a best course of action. Because it's been very effective since the 1960's I believe Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, might be your best option. This powerful modality has lead to other mental health schools of thought like Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, DBT,Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT, Brief Therapy. I'd love to tell you all about these but what's more important is getting to know you well, even though you set the pace of therapy. I do not rush, or pressure, try to convince, use scare tactics. I will be your caring and information therapist.

There is a lot about these treatment methods online, making it easy to get overwhelmed, so I've provided a few links to help you understand, and even inspire you.

I am looking forward to meeting you :)

https://beckinstitute.org/about/understanding-cbt/people.

https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com/

https://solutionfocused.net/what-is-solution-focused-therapy/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/acceptance-and-commitment-therapy

One of the first things I'd like you to know is that I'm happy to meet you. We can begin the process by completing an assessment, to help narrow down what's been troubling you. You can ask questions and I will give you as much information you need about what therapy entails. My 'hope' is for you to feel understood, supported, maybe begin to feel 'hopeful'. And .... you will want to return.