01 · Who Margaret works with

Margaret works with stress, Anxiety, addictions and relationship issues

Margaret lists 16 specialisms and 18 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Margaret chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Margaret's own words

What Margaret says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

My name is Margaret Sicari, but please call me Peggy. I am a Clinical Social Worker licensed in the state of New York where I have been practicing for over 25 years. I've been a therapist in private practice, a clinician in an agency, a social worker in a high school, a clinical supervisor and Director in a program. I have worked with individuals, couples, families and groups.

My experience in a variety of settings and positions have resulted in me working with a diversity of people with a diversity of life challenges. The most common issues clients present are anxiety and depression, relationship problems, emotional abuse, childhood trauma, damaged self-esteem and poor coping skills. I have also worked extensively with individuals and families struggling with substance use disorders, intervening to assist clients in achieving and sustaining recovery and supporting the family members impacted by the disease including ACOA's (Adult Children of Alcoholics and other addictions).

Counseling is an interactive and collaborative process. What we focus on and how we focus on it is determined by us discussing and agreeing on the plan for achieving your goals. Making you feel comfortable and building a trusting relationship is essential to your success and a top priority for me as we begin our work together. I am here to assist in broadening your understanding of yourself and your situation; building on your strengths and adding new tools to your coping skills; and finding the best path for resolving your current life challenges.

You have take the first difficulty step and reached out for help. I look forward to being the person who take the next one with you.

Margaret Sicari, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Margaret works

The 5 approaches Margaret lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Margaret lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Margaret's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Margaret runs a session.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Margaret 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 Margaret's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   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 Margaret at this point.

2. Naming Margaret specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Margaret 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 Margaret.

3. If the caseload is full

   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.

4. The first conversation

   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.

5. If the fit is wrong

   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.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Margaret

Built from what Margaret actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Margaret's - Margaret has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 34 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.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

New York

Licence

NY LCSW 030634

Licence number

030634

Licence expires

31 Aug 2028

NPI

1336280353

Years in practice

34

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Margaret'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 9 Oct 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 Margaret. 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.