Welcome

Maximizing potential. Regardless of age, emotional stress and difficulties can get in the way of reaching one’s optimal level of functioning. As a licensed clinical social worker, I provide individual psychotherapy and psychoanalysis to adults and adolescents. My clinical focus involves working in a collaborative way to identify and treat painful symptoms including depression and anxiety, which often lead to problems in work, school, and relationships.


Services

Psychotherapy

We all have moments when we get “stuck” or “off track.” When these moments become prolonged — when we struggle with depression, anxiety, irritability, identity and relationships — psychoanalytic psychotherapy can be a powerful process in assisting us to heal. Psychotherapy involves working together to gain a deeper understanding of what might be going on internally. Together we will begin to disentangle and make sense out of all that you are experiencing.

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is an intensive form of psychoanalytic psychotherapy available to adolescents and adults. It is recommended when, after a significant course of traditional psychotherapy,  an individual’s way of thinking and behaving continues to get in the way of cultivating a more fulfilling life.

Psychoanalysis involves sessions of 3-4 times a week.  The increase in frequency of sessions serves to intensify the process and move the therapy along.

Psychoanalysis is recommended when painful symptoms including self-doubt, excessive worry, and self-critical thinking remain despite having undergone a significant course of traditional psychotherapy.  

Frequently Asked

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are related in terms of theory and concepts. The idea of putting thoughts and feelings into words and making meaning out of experience are central to both. My practice of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy involves working together to gain a deeper understanding of what might be going on internally that may be contributing to painful feelings. I will be listening as you share all that is on your mind in the moment. Psychotherapy involves face-to-face contact with sessions occurring one to two times a week.

Psychoanalysis is a more intensive form of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, with sessions occurring 3- 4 times a week.  It is recommended when painful symptoms including self-doubt, excessive worry, and self-critical thinking remain despite having undergone a significant course of traditional psychotherapy.  

An individual may decide, in consultation with the therapist,  to undergo a course of this intensive form of psychotherapy, when the individual’s way of thinking and behaving continues to get in the way of cultivating a more fulfilling life, despite having having had a course of traditional psychotherapy.

Yes. It is recommended that an individual first undergo a course of psychotherapy with possibility of moving toward psychoanalysis, if indicated.

 

Yes. I work with teens ages 16 + 

Considering the possibility of psychotherapy for your teen can feel like a daunting task. To make the process easier, I recommend to parents that we speak on the phone for a brief consultation. This will enable us to begin sorting through some the issues together while giving you the opportunity to experience how I think about and work with adolescents. If appropriate, we will then move forward with scheduling a parent meeting, so that I may hear more about how your teen is functioning in all areas of his/her life including developmental history and family background. At the conclusion of our meeting, we will either decide that continuing our work together in parent sessions is all that is necessary at the moment or we may incorporate several teen appointments, allowing me to directly observe how he/she is thinking, feeling and behaving in the context of your concerns and your teen’s overall history. At the end of this initial assessment period, I will present you with my preliminary findings and recommendations.

Yes. Collaboration with parents is an integral component of the therapy, and work I consider necessary to ensure change in the home.

I do not work directly with insurance companies; however, my professional services qualify for reimbursement as an “out of network” provider under most insurance plans. At the end of the month, I will provide you with an invoice containing all the information most insurance companies require for reimbursement.

I encourage you to contact your insurance company regarding your “out of network” benefits prior to the first appointment.

Credentials

Mary A. FitzGerald, LICSW Mary FitzGerald is a licensed independent clinical social worker and an adult and child psychoanalyst.  She received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Maryland and her psychoanalytic training through the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis, Inc.  Ms. FitzGerald has spent more than 25 years providing clinical services to children, adolescents and adults.  

Mary FitzGerald’s adult practice focuses on helping individuals find a deeper sense of purpose in their lives and a more meaningful connection in relationships.  Her adolescent clinical work includes providing individual adolescent-centered therapy and parent guidance both in a private practice setting, and formerly as a treating clinician at Children’s National in Washington, DC.


Mary FitzGerald is on the faculty of the Clinical Program on Psychotherapy Practice at The Washington School of  Psychiatry, and is on the faculty of the adult training program at the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis, Inc.  

Additional post-graduate training includes:

     The Washington School of Psychiatry

     Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis, Inc.

Mary FitzGerald is a graduated adult, adolescent and child psychoanalyst from the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis, Inc.

The George Washington University, Catholic University of America and Howard University are where Mary FitzGerald provided clinical and administrative supervision as a field instructor for graduate students.

Psychology Today

Articles

Featured on Psychology Today

Six Ways to Make Teletherapy Work for You - By Mary FitzGerald, LCSW-C and Rebecca Landau-Millin, Psy.D.

Featured on Psychology Today

9 Reasons Why People Resist Starting Therapy - By Mary FitzGerald, LCSW-C and Rebecca Landau-Millin, Psy.D.

Featured on Psychology Today

Is Your Child Afraid to Be Away from You? - By Mary FitzGerald, LCSW-C and Rebecca Landau-Millin, Psy.D.


Contact

Please note that email is not always a secure form of communication and the confidentiality of information transmitted by email is not guaranteed. Therefore, please use this e-mail for scheduling and general questions only. Do not include sensitive clinical information and never use it to try to reach me in an emergency.

Office: (202) 236-2160

Locations:

Chevy Chase, Maryland

5480 Wisconsin Avenue Suite 225 Chevy Chase, MD 20815

View Map:

Directions:

  • By Metro: Highland House is located two blocks from the Friendship Heights Metro Station. Upon exiting the Metro, walk two blocks north on Wisconsin Avenue, past several retail stores, to 5480 Wisconsin Avenue.
  • By Car: There is limited street parking near the Highland House building.  Garage parking is available at an hourly rate in the basement of the Highland House.  There is also hourly parking available in the retail parking lots across the street.


Alexandria, Virginia 

1202 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314


  • By Car: There is street parking in front of the building.  

Location

Availability

Primary

Monday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Tuesday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Thursday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Friday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed