Mary Gales-Wenz

Mary Gales-Wenz brings a client-centered approach to therapy, shaping sessions around each person’s needs and goals. She is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, LICSW, with four decades of experience in behavioral health. Mary focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, anger, grief, depression, and addiction-related concerns.

She spent 20 years working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at hospitals in St. Cloud and Minneapolis, providing both inpatient and outpatient care. After that she worked in a mix of community and specialty settings, including youth and family services, behavioral health clinics, and residential treatment supervision for the Department of Corrections.

Since 2009 Mary has carried a small private practice while also providing clinical supervision and behavioral healthcare management. She has worked with adults, seniors, and adolescents in chemical dependency and mental health treatment settings. Her caseload over the years has included post-traumatic stress, trauma from sexual and physical assault, mood disorders, and complex grief.

Mary pays attention to the mind-body connection and uses approaches that help people understand how physical sensations relate to emotions. She uses methods such as client-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, emotionally-focused techniques, and mindfulness-based work.

Her practice draws on long experience across hospitals, clinics, and treatment programs. People who want a seasoned clinician with a practical, steady manner may find her style straightforward and grounded.

How Mary’s approaches fit into online therapy

Client-centered therapy focuses on what matters most to the person in the room, letting goals guide each session and slowing down when needed to listen and reflect. Cognitive behavioral therapy looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. Dialectical behavior therapy brings skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and improving interpersonal effectiveness when emotions feel overwhelming.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Mary will collaborate with each person to identify which methods suit their goals and preferences, and she adjusts techniques as the process evolves. That means clients and the therapist decide together which tools to try and when to shift focus.

Session formats are not specified in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, shorten travel time, and let people check in from different locations when quieter surroundings are available. It can also allow for shorter check-ins during a workday or for people who prefer not to be on camera. Ask about specific session options when you schedule to find what works best for your routine.