Mary Lou Kerins
Psychotherapist providing Therapy for California and Virginia Residents
I’m a licensed psychotherapist and anxiety expert who works with high-achieving professionals struggling with anxiety, burnout, perfectionism, and constant overthinking. While you may appear successful on the outside, anxiety can quietly drain your energy, focus, and confidence.
My approach uses modern, evidence-based techniques and is practical, solution-focused, and results-driven. Therapy is personalized to you. We create a clear plan based on your goals and lifestyle, combining actionable strategies with nervous system regulation tools to help you feel calmer and more grounded.
I help clients manage work stress, decision fatigue, and relationship challenges while building routines that reduce anxiety instead of adding pressure. I also use a progress-tracking app to ensure therapy is effective and that you’re seeing real, measurable change.
My goal is to help you slow down without falling behind, regain clarity and confidence, and enjoy the life you’re working so hard to build.
1: Schedule a Free 15-Minute Consultation
Start by scheduling a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation. This is a chance for us to briefly discuss what you’re looking for, what’s bringing you to therapy, and whether I may be a good fit for your needs.
There’s no pressure to move forward. My goal is for you to feel comfortable with the person you choose to work with.
2: Schedule Your Initial Session
If we decide we're a good fit, we’ll schedule your first therapy session. During our initial session, we’ll take a deeper look at what’s going on, your history, your goals, and what you hope to get out of therapy.
This gives me a fuller picture of what you’re experiencing so we can create a thoughtful plan for our work together.
3: Create A Personalized Plan
Together, we’ll identify the patterns, challenges, and goals you want to work on.
My approach is practical and collaborative. We’ll identify what’s within your control, determine where to focus first, and develop concrete strategies you can begin applying outside of our sessions.
4: Do The Work Together
Therapy isn’t just about talking about your problems. We’ll work together to understand what’s keeping you stuck and practice new ways of thinking, responding, communicating, and managing the challenges in your life.
Depending on your goals, this may include CBT, DBT, solution-focused therapy, Gottman-informed work, values exploration, nervous-system regulation, behavioral strategies, and practical problem-solving.
The Process
Services
Psychotherapy for Highly- Motivated Individuals and Couples.
My Approach:
- Compassionate, warm, friendly environment.
- Practical, results-driven, and focused sessions that make the most of your time & money.
- I️ use an app to track your progress as we work together to ensure you are getting the most of our sessions.
Models I Use For Individuals:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
- Feedback Informed Therapy
Models I️ Use For Couples:
- Emotion-Focused Therapy
- Gottman Method
Individual Therapy
Do you appear successful, yet feel overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck in overdrive? I work with high-achieving adults who struggle with anxiety, perfectionism, overthinking, burnout, work issues, life transitions, and decision fatigue.
Common issues I️ treat are:
- Burnout
- Perfectionism
- Anxiety for High Achievers (corporate employees or business owners)
- Work Stress (work/life balance)
- Issues with Dating & Existing Relationships
- Decision-making (i.e. - career, relationships, friendships, moving, pregnancy, parenthood, family issues, etc)
- Social anxiety
- Premarital Counseling
- Clients struggling to find direction, meaning, and/or purpose
Therapy with me is practical, structured, and results-focused. Together, we identify what’s driving your anxiety, build sustainable routines and boundaries, and develop tools to reduce stress and improve quality of life. I️ track client progress using an app so we ensure you are getting the most out of our time together. Sometimes therapy can feel good in the moment, but not yield the results you want. By tracking your progress, I ensure each session is moving you closer to your goals while also being a supportive, warm, and compassionate environment.
My goal is to help you slow down without falling behind and actually enjoy the life you’re working so hard to build. I️ also teach clients value-driven living where we explore your deepest values and help those be guiding principles to your daily actions, interactions with others and decision-making.
Couples Therapy
I work with high achieving couples who:
- Have a high stress lifestyle with many responsibilities.
- Are feeling exhausted by their relationship.
- Are unsure if their relationship will ever change.
- Wish their partner understood them better.
- May have had a challenging relationship issue arise such as addiction, infidelity, emotional cheating, porn addiction, secret-keeping, impulsive decision-making, breach of trust, etc.
- May be trying to decide whether to stay or leave the relationship.
Having a space to discuss issues in a healthy way can transform your relationship by helping you: reconnect emotionally and physically, track patterns of dysfunction, come to mutual understandings, work through forgiveness and how to move forward, problem-solve together, and create more enjoyment and ease in your relationship. My main goal is to help your relationship feel fun and enjoyable again, as relationships are supposed to enhance our lives, not drain them.
Contact Me
Please reach out if you have any questions or are interested in scheduling an appointment. Click the link for a free 15 minute phone consultation so we can determine together if my services will meet your needs.
Currently providing therapy for residents of California and Virginia. I️ am re-opening my CA office in 2026 for in-person sessions.
Tel: 949-423-6329
Email: info@therapywithmarylou.com
Instagram: Therapywithmarylou