Mary "Jane" Poulson , LPC, LMHC

Mary "Jane" Poulson, who prefers to go by Jane, is a licensed counselor with three decades of experience supporting adolescents and adults through a wide range of life challenges. She brings a compassionate, down-to-earth style to her work and combines practical skills training with empathic listening to help people manage anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship and family concerns, parenting issues, addiction, sleep problems, attention difficulties, and the stresses of career and caregiving.

Jane holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Gonzaga University and completed undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of Oregon. She is licensed in Washington as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and also holds the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) credential. Her practice has included specialty training in children’s mental health and national certification as a counselor, reflecting long-term clinical experience across settings.

Her therapeutic approach is interactive and tailored to each person. She uses client-centered principles to build collaborative relationships, evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to address unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy and mindfulness training to improve emotion regulation and coping. Jane integrates complementary techniques when they suit a client’s needs, adapting methods to each individual rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online care

Mary "Jane" Poulson commonly uses Client-Centered Therapy, which focuses on building a respectful, nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship so clients can explore their concerns and find their own solutions. This approach is useful for people seeking support with self-esteem, relationship issues, life transitions, or general emotional processing.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a structured method that helps identify and change unhelpful thought and behavior patterns. CBT is often applied to anxiety, depression, stress, and sleep difficulties because it provides concrete tools for symptom management.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills are incorporated when emotion regulation, distress tolerance, or interpersonal effectiveness are priorities. DBT offers practical strategies for managing intense emotions and improving communication in relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of the work itself. Jane collaborates with each person to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting techniques as progress unfolds.

Online therapy with a licensed professional can make those approaches more accessible. Video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging offer flexibility for busy schedules, reduced travel time, and options for communicating in the mode that feels most comfortable. These formats support ongoing engagement and make it easier to practice therapeutic skills in everyday life.