Heather McQuay, LCSW-C

Heather McQuay is a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical (LCSW-C) practicing in Maryland with two decades of experience in human services and more than ten years as a licensed therapist. She has worked with people coping with anxiety, depression, grief, mood disorders, and trauma from both childhood and adulthood. Her background includes supporting clients facing chronic health concerns, caregiving stress, and the emotional fallout from life changes.

Heather uses a person-centered style that aims to help people feel heard and respected. She works together with each client to set clear, manageable goals. Sessions focus on practical steps and skills that fit into daily life rather than abstract theory.

Her approach draws on cognitive behavioral tools and acceptance-based practices to address unhelpful thoughts and unwanted emotions. She also uses elements of motivational interviewing and strength-based work to encourage small, sustainable changes. When appropriate, she introduces techniques from dialectical behavior therapy to help with emotional regulation and distress tolerance.

Clients who find her approach helpful are people seeking down-to-earth guidance for stress, relationships, parenting challenges, or coping with chronic pain and illness. Heather often supports people dealing with career strain, compassion fatigue, ADHD, and attachment concerns. Her sessions aim to build skills and clarity one step at a time.

To begin, she asks people to share what matters most to them and then tailors sessions to those priorities. Heather emphasizes collaboration, practical tools, and steady progress toward the goals each person sets.

How Heather’s Approaches Fit Online Care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, chronic health challenges, and life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thought patterns and practicing different responses, which helps reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety and improve day-to-day functioning. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers concrete skills for managing intense emotions and improving relationships, making it helpful when stress leads to frequent mood swings or crisis-level reactivity.

Heather treats finding the right approach as a team effort. She will talk with each person about their goals and preferences, and then try methods that fit those needs. If a technique does not feel helpful, she adjusts the plan so the work stays relevant and doable.

Practical benefits of online therapy include easier fitting of sessions into a busy week and fewer barriers to attending regularly. The biography does not list specific session formats here, so confirm the available options before booking to know which formats are offered. Online work can make it simpler to maintain momentum while juggling caregiving, medical appointments, or work commitments, and sessions can focus on skills you can apply between meetings.