About Mary Beth

Mary Beth Holt is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervisor Designation who brings nearly three decades of experience supporting individuals, couples, children, and families through trauma, identity exploration, neurodivergence, relational challenges, and major life transitions. Her work is deeply collaborative, affirming, and grounded in a holistic understanding of how stress, trauma, relationships, and systems impact emotional well-being.

Mary Beth specializes in working with LGBTQIA+ individuals, neurodivergent adults and children — including autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD clients — as well as breast cancer survivors, trauma survivors, and families navigating emotional or behavioral challenges. She also works with clients who feel traditional talk therapy has not fully met their needs and are looking for more experiential, somatic, or body-based approaches to healing.

Her work is rooted in the belief that therapy should be individualized, culturally informed, and empowering. She creates a space where clients feel safe to explore who they are, reconnect with their strengths, and build meaningful, sustainable change at a pace that feels right for them.

Training & Credentials

• PhD | Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University

• MSW | Master of Social Work, The Ohio State University

• BA | Bachelor of Arts, Oberlin College

• LISWS | Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervisor Designation

• 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher

• Certified Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Instructor

• Experience across private practice, hospitals and medical settings, community mental health, schools and universities, inpatient treatment, and nonprofit organizations

Approach

Mary Beth’s approach is relational, collaborative, trauma-informed, and deeply affirming. She works from a culturally informed and empowerment-focused lens, recognizing that every client’s experiences, identities, values, and needs are unique.

Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, she partners closely with clients to explore what types of support, tools, and interventions feel most meaningful and effective for them. Her work integrates research-based practices with a neurobiological understanding of stress, trauma, resiliency, and healing.

She frequently incorporates EMDR, somatic and body-based interventions, solution-focused therapy, play therapy, mindfulness and breathing practices, liberation-based therapy, and family systems approaches into her work. Mary Beth believes therapy is most effective when clients feel emotionally safe, genuinely understood, and empowered to move at their own pace.

Above all, she sees therapy as a collaborative process designed around the client — not the other way around.

What to Expect

Mary Beth describes her style as relaxed, conversational, and collaborative. Early sessions focus on building trust, understanding your goals, and creating space for you to ask questions and determine whether the relationship feels like a good fit.

She is naturally curious and genuinely interested in understanding each client’s story, experiences, strengths, and hopes for therapy. Clients are never pressured to share anything before they feel ready, and therapy always moves at a pace that feels emotionally safe and supportive.

Her goal is to help clients identify approaches that align not only with their mental health needs, but also with their life, family, culture, schedule, and personal values.

A Bit Outside the Office

Outside of therapy, Mary Beth enjoys spending time outdoors, being active with her dog, connecting with her large family and support system, and participating in her community. She values rest, laughter, and meaningful connection as essential parts of healing and well-being.

She also firmly believes that pictures of clients’ dogs are always welcome.

A Note from Mary Beth

Mary Beth understands that starting therapy can feel vulnerable, especially for people who have had mixed experiences in the past or are unsure where to begin.

She encourages clients to simply try the first session and notice how it feels. Therapy, in her view, should always move at the client’s pace and center what feels most important and meaningful to them.

She believes therapy is not about being “broken,” but about having support while building a healthier, more fulfilling, and more connected life.