Practitioner record · Checked 7 Nov 2026
Marcus Johnson has been in practice 20 years and is licensed in New York. Marcus lists eating disorders, sleeping disorders and bipolar disorder among 11 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.
Everything below is either quoted from Marcus's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.
01 · Who Marcus works with
Marcus lists 11 specialisms. Specialisms are the subjects Marcus chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.
02 · In Marcus's own words
Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.
My name is Marcus Johnson, and I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with more than 20 years of experience supporting people through trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship and family concerns, disability and chronic health conditions, stress, and major life transitions.
My approach to therapy is collaborative, strength-based, trauma-informed, and grounded in the belief that people should be understood within the full context of their lives. Mental health does not exist separately from family, culture, identity, relationships, health, disability, discrimination, access, or the environments in which we live. I work with clients to understand how these experiences intersect while identifying strengths, developing practical strategies, and creating meaningful opportunities for change.
My clinical background includes rehabilitation counseling and extensive experience working with people navigating disability, changes in health and independence, trauma, loss, and significant life transitions. I integrate Motivational Interviewing, cognitive behavioral strategies, trauma-focused interventions, behavioral approaches, and solution-oriented techniques based on each client’s individual needs. I am an active therapist who values honest conversation, collaboration, self-determination, and helping clients translate insight into action.
My lived experience also informs how I understand resilience, identity, adaptation, and transformation. Before entering the counseling profession, I attended The Juilliard School as a full-scholarship dance student. At age 20, after completing my second year, I sustained a spinal cord injury in a motor vehicle accident. That experience fundamentally changed the direction of my life but did not diminish its possibilities.
Following my injury, I earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University, a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from NYU, and a Master of Social Work from Fordham University. My personal and professional experiences have taught me that adapting to change does not require surrendering who we are. It can involve discovering different ways of exercising agency, defining purpose, building relationships, and moving forward.
Beyond my clinical practice, my career has included more than two decades of advocacy and leadership alongside people with physical disabilities and chronic health conditions. I have worked extensively at the intersection of mental health, healthcare, disability, community living, self-advocacy, and systems navigation. That experience has strengthened my ability to recognize when an individual’s struggle cannot be separated from barriers within the systems surrounding them.
I welcome adults from diverse backgrounds and experiences, including people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, members of LGBTQ+ communities, people navigating racial and cultural identity, and individuals working through faith, relationships, family concerns, or major changes in their lives. I strive to provide a therapeutic space where clients can bring the fullness of who they are without having to minimize or explain away important parts of their identities and experiences.
My role is not to tell you who you should become. It is to work alongside you in understanding where you are, what matters to you, and what may help you move toward the life you want. Therapy with me is collaborative, empowering, and purposeful. Together, we can explore what has happened, understand how it continues to affect you, recognize the strengths you already possess, and identify practical steps toward meaningful change.
If you’re ready to begin that work, I’m ready to work alongside you.
I look forward to working with you.
Marcus Johnson, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Nov 2026
03 · What happens next
Marcus practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Marcus's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.
BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Marcus at this point.
BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Marcus is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Marcus.
You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.
A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.
Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.
04 · Before you commit
Built from what Marcus actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Marcus's - Marcus has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.
“With 20 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”
Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.
“How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”
On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.
05 · Practical details
06 · Provenance
Marcus's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Nov 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.
The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.
Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Marcus. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.
Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.
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