Mary Whittaker is a License Clinical Social Worker, art therapist, and Certified Yoga Instructor, having obtained her Masters of Arts in Social Work with a specialization in Children and Youth Mental Health from the University of Denver. Mary joined Creative Counseling Center in early 2020 and works with families, children as young as age 2 through adolescents and young adults through age 28. She is an empathic and mindful clinician who respects all ages, races, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and financial status.

Mary’s prior experience includes working in community mental health centers, juvenile justice residential programs, and school settings where she worked with children, adolescents and families from diverse populations and backgrounds. She has experience supporting those struggling with depression, anxiety, mood disorders, ADHD, bullying, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in young children, parental skills coaching and education, familial conflict, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, bereavement and complex grief, low self-esteem, divorce transition, anger management, self-harm, suicidal ideation, sexual and gender identity struggles, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and complex trauma.

Mary utilizes various counseling techniques, tailors them to each client, and believes in treating the “whole” person, including mind, body, and spirit. She incorporates modalities such as play therapy (directive and non-directive), Art Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT informed), yoga and mindfulness, Sand Tray, traditional talk therapy, and Experiential Therapy. Mary strongly believes in the healing qualities of moving the body and connecting the mind and spirit. She integrates outdoor elements (walk and talk therapy, playing games and exploring the outdoors, and making art with outdoor materials) to allow individuals to reconnect with themselves, with other humans, and with our earth, and come to feel capable and empowered to make meaningful changes in their lives.

Mary is compassionate, supportive, and collaborative and believes in forming meaningful, therapeutic relationships with each client. She meets them where they are in their life journey and gently challenges them to make personal, positive changes. She’s passionate about advocating for and assisting her clients in navigating through systems of oppression that impact positive functioning. Her goal is to create a brave space for clients to feel fully heard, understood, and supported non-judgmentally and works to validate clients in their self-discovery of insights and development of individual life goals.