Monica Cesar McGrawLICSW

Monica Cesar McGraw is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) practicing in Massachusetts. She brings six years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, grief, and motivation. She speaks English and Portuguese and aims to make the first step toward change feel manageable.

Monica focuses on practical, down-to-earth support. She listens to what is happening now and helps people build clear steps to feel steadier. Conversations are shaped to each person's needs instead of following a fixed script.

Her approach mixes tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy with mindfulness and narrative techniques. That means sessions often include thinking through unhelpful thoughts, practicing skills for emotional balance, and noticing how personal stories shape current struggles. Motivational interviewing can help when someone wants to find momentum for change.

Monica has worked with people facing postpartum depression, trauma and abuse, mood concerns such as bipolar disorder, and obsessive or panic symptoms. She also supports people dealing with life transitions, caregiver stress, and end-of-life caregiving challenges. She aims to help people build coping skills and clearer priorities.

In sessions she emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and compassion. She partners with people to tailor conversations and goals to what matters most to them. To begin, she asks a few questions to understand your situation and then co-creates a plan that feels doable.

How therapy approaches translate to online care

Monica draws on cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based strategies to help people change unhelpful thinking and build everyday coping skills. CBT focuses on identifying thoughts and behaviors that keep problems going and trying small experiments to test new ways of coping. Mindfulness therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and improve moment-to-moment calm.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Monica will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and adapt techniques to fit what feels useful. Together they decide which strategies to prioritize and how to apply them between sessions.

Confirm available session formats before booking so you know what options are offered. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when schedules are tight. Licensed professionals can tailor homework and in-session practice to work in whatever setting you use for appointments, helping skills carry over into day-to-day routines.