Margaret Swanson, LICSW

Margaret Swanson is a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience in Vermont. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, addiction concerns, and challenges around identity and life changes. Her manner is calm and direct, aimed at helping people take practical steps forward.

She uses a mix of evidence-based approaches, including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and attachment-informed strategies. Sessions focus on clear goals, skills you can use between meetings, and changes that fit daily life. Margaret keeps language plain and works at a steady pace so people feel understood and able to act.

Margaret often supports people dealing with parenting strain, caregiver stress, workplace pressure, and the fallout of trauma or relationship difficulties. She also helps with self-esteem, anger, and managing symptoms related to bipolar disorder and ADHD. The work can include short-term coping tools or longer-term exploration, depending on needs.

Her style blends practical techniques with attention to emotional patterns and life story. She helps clients notice how thoughts and behaviors connect, try new ways of responding, and build habits that reduce pain over time. Sessions are collaborative and aimed at skills that make daily life easier.

Margaret offers several formats for meeting, including video, phone, live chat, and text messaging. She works in English and practices in Vermont as a VT LICSW and NH LICSW.

Therapeutic approaches for online care

Margaret commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in online sessions. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps identify unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and teaches practical skills to change them, which is useful for anxiety, depression, and stress. Acceptance and commitment therapy focuses on values-based action and learning to live with difficult thoughts and feelings while moving toward meaningful goals, which can help with grief, chronic stress, and coping with life changes.

She also draws on attachment-based ideas to look at how early and current relationships shape emotional responses and patterns. This can help people understand communication problems, commitment or avoidance issues, and patterns that show up in parenting or close relationships. Finding the right mix of approaches is a collaborative process: the therapist and client discuss goals, preferences, and what feels most useful, then adjust methods as the work unfolds.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which provide flexibility for different schedules and needs. Video is good for in-depth work and visual connection. Phone sessions can fit a break at work or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text are helpful for shorter check-ins, skills practice, or when writing feels easier than talking. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent during busy or changing life circumstances.