Mary Buntin, LCSW

Mary Buntin is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with 40 years of professional experience. She focuses on helping people manage grief, depression, anxiety, and major life transitions. Her work emphasizes building self-knowledge and identifying personal strengths to move toward a more fulfilling life.

She has a particular interest in the transition into retirement and issues that come with aging and later life. Mary also supports caregivers who face the stress of caring for someone with a degenerative illness and addresses compassion fatigue that can arise from long-term caregiving.

In sessions she helps people name what is most difficult right now and then find practical ways to cope. She tends to center conversations on strengths and small, achievable steps that reduce overwhelm. Mary encourages clients to notice what already works and to build from there.

Her approach is collaborative and respectful, aimed at empowering people as they make changes. She works with common concerns like isolation, guilt, and self-critical thinking, and helps people practice greater self-compassion. Many clients come when life shifts feel hard to manage, and she focuses on steady, sustainable change.

Mary practices in Virginia and offers services in English. To begin, she asks prospective clients to complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule based on therapist availability.

How evidence-based approaches guide online support

Mary describes her work as grounded in evidence-based therapeutic techniques that help people cope with loss, stress, and life transitions. One common approach focuses on identifying strengths and building small coping skills to reduce daily overwhelm; this helps with depression, anxiety, and caregiving stress by giving practical tools to use between sessions. Another approach emphasizes processing grief and major life changes through gentle narrative work that helps people make sense of losses and find a path forward.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapy process. She collaborates with each person to decide which methods match their goals and comfort level. That includes checking in about what feels useful and adjusting techniques over time so the work fits the client's needs.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm current session options before booking since session formats are not specified here. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, whether you need shorter check-ins on a break, a session that avoids travel time, or support while navigating caregiving responsibilities. Many people find that remote sessions help maintain continuity of care during transitions and make scheduling more flexible.