Rachel McGowan, LICSW

Rachel McGowan is a licensed independent clinical social worker with 11 years of experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, depression, and life changes. She uses straightforward, practical methods and aims to make sessions feel warm and respectful. Rachel wants clients to know therapy can be a place to learn skills and try new ways of coping.

She blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with client-centered techniques to shape treatment around each person's goals. Sessions focus on identifying unhelpful thoughts, practicing coping strategies, and building habits that reduce distress. Rachel also uses mindfulness and elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy to teach emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills.

Her background includes clinical and school social work roles and several years in a residential setting supporting people who experienced physical, sexual, or emotional trauma. That variety has shaped a practical approach that emphasizes clear steps and doable practice between sessions. She avoids stigmatizing labels and centers respect and sensitivity in every conversation.

Therapy with Rachel often includes skill practice, brief worksheets, and guided mindfulness exercises. She works collaboratively to set goals and checks in about what is or isn’t helping. Her pace is adaptable - some people want concrete strategies, while others first need time to feel understood.

Rachel also brings a calm presence into sessions and mentions a certified therapy dog, Bauer, who sometimes helps people feel more at ease. She encourages anyone ready to take a step toward change to reach out and begin the matching process.

How CBT, Client-Centered Work, and DBT Skills Translate Online

Rachel commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and helps people try new thinking and behavior patterns to reduce anxiety and low mood. Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening closely and creating a respectful, nonjudgmental space so people can explore what matters to them and set their own goals. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) provides concrete skills for managing intense emotions, improving distress tolerance, and strengthening relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. That conversation guides whether sessions emphasize thought work, skills training, mindfulness practice, or a mix of methods in a collaborative plan.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video is useful for face-to-face conversation and guided exercises, phone calls work well when bandwidth is limited, live chat and messaging let people check in with brief updates or shorter sessions, and text conversations can support between-session skill practice. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and different daily routines.