Maria Slaughter , LISW, LCSW, CSW

Maria Slaughter is a licensed social worker based in Georgia who brings seven years of focused clinical experience to her practice. She holds LISW, LCSW, and CSW credentials - LISW denotes Licensed Independent Social Worker, LCSW denotes Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and CSW is a social work credential - and she combines professional training with a long history of direct practice to support people through major life challenges and stressful transitions.

Her work spans supportive services for the LGBT community, people living with HIV/AIDS, hospice care, and people experiencing housing instability, and she has experience helping with anxiety, depression, grief, relationship concerns, trauma and abuse, self-esteem, intimacy, and caregiver or compassion fatigue. Maria has also worked with adoption and foster care issues, end-of-life counseling, life purpose exploration, and questions of sexuality and self-love.

Maria earned a Master of Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University, a Bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University, and an Associate degree in Liberal Arts from Cuyahoga Community College. Her professional background includes internships and roles at the Cleveland LGBT Community Center, Recovery Resources as an HIV linkage specialist and program coordinator, and Care Alliance as a behavioral health counselor serving people without stable housing. She currently works full time as a hospice social worker serving families in the Atlanta area.

Using a client-centered, strengths-based approach, Maria focuses on building goals and practical coping strategies within a warm, accepting therapeutic relationship. She draws on evidence-based techniques to tailor care to each person’s needs and life context.

Approaches and Online Care with Maria Slaughter

Maria Slaughter integrates client-centered therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) alongside mindfulness practices to guide online work. Client-centered therapy emphasizes empathy and collaboration, helping people explore their values and set goals while the therapist offers acceptance and support. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying and adjusting unhelpful thoughts and behaviors to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress and to build practical coping skills. Mindfulness therapy teaches present-moment awareness and self-compassion techniques that can ease rumination, improve emotional regulation, and support recovery from trauma or grief.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Maria works with each person to understand their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adapts methods over time so therapy fits the individual rather than forcing a single model.

Online therapy with Maria can include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, offering flexibility for busy schedules, mobility limitations, or geographically distant clients. These formats make it easier to maintain continuity of care, access licensed professionals from different locations, and integrate therapy into everyday life without sacrificing quality of clinical support.