Mary Kay Zayani , LCSW

Mary Kay Zayani is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with more than 25 years of experience supporting people through grief, anxiety, relationship challenges, career transitions, addictions, parenting concerns, and other life stressors. She holds a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work and Clinical Counseling from Columbia University in New York, and she is licensed to practice in both California and New York.

Her work grew from an early inclination to listen, soothe, and comfort others, and she has channeled that gift into a long career in mental health. Mary Kay draws on strength-based, cognitive-behavioral, and psychodynamic techniques to help clients build resilience, manage emotions, and shift unhelpful patterns. She blends practical skills training with a compassionate, empathic stance that validates experience while encouraging change.

In sessions she aims to be a neutral, nonjudgmental witness who motivates and guides clients toward their own answers. Her style is warm and encouraging and focused on stabilizing emotions, promoting self-soothing, and identifying and challenging core beliefs that get in the way of well-being. Areas of clinical focus include grief and loss, depression, PTSD, intimacy and relationship issues, parenting, career guidance and coaching, eating and body-image concerns, ADHD, and coping with life changes.

Mary Kay helps people explore attachment and abandonment concerns, codependency, communication and commitment difficulties, family of origin issues, infidelity, and loneliness, among other struggles. Her practice emphasizes collaboration - helping clients discover strengths and options so they can move forward with clearer choices and greater self-understanding.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Support

Mary Kay integrates Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) into her online practice. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how early relationships shape current patterns of closeness and trust and can be helpful for issues like abandonment, intimacy struggles, and family of origin concerns. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathy and acceptance, giving clients a safe space to express themselves while the therapist reflects and supports their self-directed growth. CBT focuses on identifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, teaching practical skills to reduce anxiety, depression, and problematic habits.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Mary Kay works collaboratively with each person to determine what fits their needs, goals, and preferences. She combines approaches as needed, helping clients experiment with strategies and refine a plan that feels authentic and useful.

Online sessions can take place by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging, which makes scheduling more flexible and accessible for people with busy lives or mobility constraints. These options allow licensed professionals to provide consistent, ongoing support across a range of issues while accommodating different communication styles and practical needs.