About Heather
Heather McQuay is a licensed clinician in Maryland with more than 20 years in human services and over a decade practicing as a therapist. She combines medical and social work perspectives, using plain language to help people feeling overwhelmed or stuck. Her style is straightforward and respectful, focused on what a person wants to change and how to get there.
She commonly helps people managing anxiety, stress, depression, bipolar mood concerns, and symptoms linked to past trauma.
Background and approach
She also supports those facing grief, caregiving strain, burnout, and the daily challenges of parenting and work. ADHD is listed among her specialties and may be part of what clients bring to sessions. Her practice centers on a person-centered stance that honors each individual’s goals.
Sessions are collaborative - she listens, reflects, and then suggests practical steps to try between meetings. Strategies often include clear skills, short experiments, and focused conversations that move toward concrete change. Heather draws on a mix of methods including cognitive behavioral ideas, acceptance and commitment strategies, and dialectical behavior tools.
She also uses motivational interviewing and existential discussion where helpful. The choice of approach is shaped by what the person needs, not a one-size-fits-all plan. Clients can expect a calm, steady presence and help organizing next steps when life feels chaotic.
Heather emphasizes realistic goals, small wins, and building skills that fit each person’s daily life.
How Heather’s Approaches Work Online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches practical skills to shift unhelpful patterns. It often helps with depression, worry, and mood symptoms. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and empathy so the person feels heard and can find their own solutions in a supportive relationship.Finding the right approach is a team effort. Heather will discuss goals and preferences and try methods that match what a person hopes to change. She adjusts strategies over time based on what is and isn’t working so the plan stays relevant and doable.
Online formats used include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging. Video is good for full conversations and teaching skills, phone can work when bandwidth is limited, live chat and text are helpful for brief check-ins or ongoing coaching between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or caregiving schedules and support steady progress without extra travel.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Maryland
- Languages
- English
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