Susan Schwerd

Susan Schwerd is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Maryland with 24 years of clinical practice. She helps people manage stress, anxiety, trauma, mood shifts, grief, and the strain that comes with major life changes. Her style blends practical coaching with talk therapy to help clients find clearer ways forward.

She trained in counseling psychology and spent seven years at a large outpatient mental health organization, including time as an assistant clinical director. Before that, she spent a decade as a human resources director, a background she draws on when supporting personal growth and workplace challenges. Susan uses a mix of approaches rather than a single method.

Susan’s work is rooted in psychodynamic ideas about patterns and past influences, and she pairs that perspective with solution-focused techniques to set achievable goals. She also uses clinical hypnotherapy tools and teaches self-hypnosis and breathing practices for pain and anxiety management. These tools are offered alongside talk therapy when helpful.

Her practice emphasizes understanding why recurring problems happen and then testing new responses in everyday life. She often addresses chronic illness, chronic pain, grief and loss, post-traumatic stress, anger, and sleep problems. She also offers coaching-oriented support for career and professional productivity concerns.

Susan provides live video and phone sessions, and she will respond to a limited number of messages between sessions. International clients are not accepted, and sessions are conducted in English. If a reader wants to begin, they follow the site’s matching and scheduling steps to connect.

Therapeutic approaches and how they work online

Susan uses psychodynamic ideas to look at repeating patterns and the roots of emotional conflicts. This approach helps uncover why certain responses keep coming up and then makes room to try different ways of responding.

She also uses solution-focused therapy, which centers on small, practical steps and short-term goals. This can help when someone wants quick, manageable changes for stress, anxiety, or life transitions.

Clinical hypnotherapy and teaching self-hypnosis are offered as adjunct tools. These techniques often focus on breathing, relaxation, and changing the way the body responds to pain or anxiety, and they can be paired with talk work when useful.

Finding the right mix of methods is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and what feels most helpful, then try approaches that fit those needs in a collaborative way.

Practical benefits of online therapy include easier scheduling around work and family life, avoiding travel time, and using phone or video to keep regular check-ins. Susan offers live video and phone sessions; confirm the current session options before booking to make sure they meet individual needs.