01 · Who Mary works with

Mary works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and trauma and abuse

Mary lists 16 specialisms and 30 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Mary chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Mary's own words

What Mary says about the work

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

I am a licensed mental health counselor supervisor in the state of North Carolina with 27 years of experience. I received my counseling LPC license in 1998 and my Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor license in 2011. I received my Masters in Counseling degree from Webster University in 1997. I have worked in the counseling field since 1995. My experience includes working as a counselor in an adult women’s inpatient unit specializing in eating disorders, personality disorders , psychotic disorders and PTSD. I have maintained a private practice since 1998 working primarily with adults, families and couples . I was a therapist at a county mental health facility and worked with adolescents in a school setting before becoming a therapist at a Residential Healing Farm from 2005-2018. I worked with adults who presented with a broad range of emotional health conditions and diagnosis at this facility. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD, EMDR, Solution focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are among the modalities used when working with clients. I have maintained a private practice since 1998. My therapy style is to meet you where you are now , and together work towards solutions and empowerment. I look forward to working with you !

Professional Disclosure statement

I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor in the state of North Carolina #S3220. I received my LPC license from the NC Board of Licensed Professional Counselors in November 1998 and my LCMHCS in 2011. I received my Masters Degree in Counseling from Webster University in Greenville, S. C in 1997. I also hold a B.F.A, degree from the University of Denver, 1974. I have worked in the counseling profession since March 1995. My experience includes working as a counselor for adult women in an inpatient psychiatric unit specializing in clients presenting with eating disorders, personality disorder, psychotic disorder and other clinical presentations. I was employed as a child and adolescent therapist at Park Ridge Hospital with responsibilities that included family, individual, group and conjoint counseling. I co-facilitated a group for at risk adolescents through the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council for four years and facilitated a weekly group for the same population at the Polk County High School for 4 years. I was employed as a therapist for Rutherford/Polk Mental Health from 2001 through 2004. My responsibilities included individual, group, and family therapy, along with assessments and crisis intervention. After the N. C. mental health reform in April 2004, I began to work with New Vistas Behavioral Services where I was employed as a therapist working children, adolescents and adults in their community location, as well as in the local High School. I was employed by Cooperriis Healing Community in Mill Spring, N.C. From 2005 until the end of 2018. I worked as a psychotherapist for adults with serious and persistent mental illness in their farm and community programs. CBT, DBT, solution focused therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, ACT, EMDR, animal assisted therapy and behavior therapy were all modalities incorporated into my work with clients. I have maintained a small private practice in Mill Spring since 1998. I work with individuals, families, couples and facilitate group process sessions. My private practice is located on my farm at 2419 Silver Creek Rd. Mill Spring, N.C. I also provide animal assisted therapy to private clients who are appropriate for this therapy. Use of diagnosis: Some health insurance companies will reimburse clients for counseling services and some will not. Most will require a diagnosis of a mental-health condition and indicate that you must have an “illness” before they will agree to reimburse you. Some conditions for which people seek counseling do not qualify for reimbursement. We will discuss the use of diagnosis and if/when submitted to your insurance company it will become a part of your permanent insurance records.

I began working with BetterHelp as an online therapist in October 2021. All billing and scheduling is handled through the BetterHelp platform. Diagnosis is not used as a tool in this format and clients must agree to use 911 for emergencies as this is not a platform to be used for crisis intervention. All billing is handled through their organization. Some other telehealth organizations will require a diagnosis and will bill insurance.

Private practice sessions are usually 50-60 minutes. Cost varies between individual and family conjoint sessions. I provide phone sessions for clients who live out of the area. These sessions are generally 30-45 minutes in length.

Use of a diagnosis will be discussed and can be used as a road map for treatment in my private practice if on a self – pay basis.

I will keep confidential anything you say as part of our counseling relationship with the following exceptions: You direct me in writing to disclose information to someone else, it is determined you are a danger to yourself or others, or I am ordered by a court to disclose information.

Although clients are encouraged to discuss any concerns with me first, you may file a complaint against me with the organization below should you feel I am in violation of any of these codes of ethics.

I abide by the ACA code of Ethics (http;//www.counseling.org/Resources/ac/a-code-of-ethics.pdf)

North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors P.O. Box 77819 Greensboro, N.C. 27417

844-622-3572 or 336-217-6007 email: complaints@ncblcmhc.org

we agree to these terms

signature of LCMHCS________________________ date____________

Mary Kallenbach, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Nov 2026

03 · How Mary works

The 9 approaches Mary lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Mary lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Mary'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 Mary runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

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.

Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT

A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR

A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.

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.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Mary 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 Mary'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 Mary at this point.

2. Naming Mary specifically

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

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 Mary

Built from what Mary actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Mary's - Mary 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 23 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

LCMHC

Licensed in

North Carolina

Licence

NC LCMHC S3220

Licence number

S3220

Licence expires

30 Jun 2027

NPI

1225160377

Years in practice

23

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Mary'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 Mary. 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.