Gretchen Raring

Gretchen Raring is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 24 years of experience. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, relationship struggles, depression, and big life changes. She uses a warm, practical style that focuses on what matters to each person. Gretchen works with teens, adults, older adults, and couples. She adapts to where a person is and brings concrete tools as well as space to talk things through. Her work covers a wide range of concerns, from grief and trauma to parenting strain, ADHD, and burnout. Her background includes many settings such as mental health, addiction services, homelessness support, and work with incarcerated people and veterans. She earned a Master of Social Work from Temple University and draws on two decades of varied clinical experience. In sessions she emphasizes acceptance, authenticity, and collaboration. She blends client-centered listening with techniques from approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy and emotionally-focused work. That means she will both listen carefully and offer practical strategies you can try between meetings. Gretchen aims to help people build skills, shift habits, and clarify priorities. She pays attention to strengths and to realistic next steps. The goal is steady progress toward the goals each person sets, using methods that fit their life and values.

Approaches and what online work looks like

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people notice their thoughts and choose actions that match their values instead of getting stuck on unhelpful thinking. It can be useful for stress, anxiety, and major life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying patterns of thinking and behavior that keep problems going and testing new ways to respond; it often helps with anxiety, depression, sleep, and mood symptoms. Emotionally-Focused Therapy centers on feelings and connection, helping people understand emotional patterns in relationships and build clearer communication and closeness.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will listen to your goals, try methods that suit your needs, and adjust the plan based on what helps. This is a collaborative process aimed at practical progress rather than following a fixed protocol.

The original biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm available formats before booking. In general, online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. It can also let people use quieter spaces or lower-bandwidth options when that helps. Licensed professionals can adapt techniques like ACT, CBT, and emotionally-focused work to remote sessions so clients can continue building skills and working toward goals from wherever they attend.