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LCSW

Ruth Anthony-McClary, LCSW

  • Experience30 years
  • LocationNew Jersey
  • Focus areasStress and Anxiety, Trauma and abuse, and Self esteem
  • Therapy approachesInternal Family Systems and Attachment-Based Therapy
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About Ruth

Ruth Anthony-McClary is a licensed clinical social worker in New Jersey with three decades of experience helping people manage stress, mood disturbances, trauma, and relationship concerns. She emphasizes respectful, sensitive, and compassionate care while tailoring conversations and treatment plans to each individual's circumstances.

Background and approach

Her work includes support for anxiety, depression, grief, self-esteem struggles, intimacy-related issues, parenting challenges, career stress, and coping with major life changes. Ruth draws on a mix of evidence-informed approaches to meet clients where they are, including Internal Family Systems, attachment-based ideas, client-centered techniques, cognitive behavioral methods, and mindfulness practices.

Over a 30-year career she has developed skills in addressing a wide range of concerns from chronic illness and caregiver stress to communication problems, codependency, adoption and foster care matters, and compassion fatigue. She frames therapy as a collaborative process, offering practical coping skills while attending to underlying patterns that affect relationships and emotional wellbeing.

Integrating Therapeutic Approaches for Online Care

Internal Family Systems helps clients explore inner parts and their roles, allowing people to understand conflicting feelings and heal from within. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on patterns in close relationships and supports building healthier ways of relating to others. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathetic listening and collaboration, creating space for clients to set the pace and direction of their work.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey, and Ruth works collaboratively to determine which methods fit a client's goals, needs, and preferences. She combines talking, skill-building, and reflective practices so the direction of therapy evolves with the client's progress and comfort level.

Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility for different lifestyles and schedules. These formats make it easier to maintain continuity of care and access therapy from various locations within New Jersey, while allowing clients to choose the mode of communication that best supports their daily life.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns does she address?
She works with a broad range of issues including stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, self-esteem, relationship and intimacy-related concerns, grief, parenting and career-related difficulties.
What is her therapeutic style?
Her approach blends client-centered listening with practical techniques from CBT and mindfulness, and incorporates attachment-based work to explore relational patterns.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She brings 30 years of clinical social work experience to her practice, with extensive background supporting mood disorders, trauma, and coping skills development.
What are her credentials and where is she located?
She is licensed as an LCSW in New Jersey with license number NJ LCSW 44SC04805000 and practices from that state.
Does she offer sessions in other languages or to international clients?
Sessions are offered in English only and she is not accepting international clients at this time.
In what formats are sessions available?
She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to accommodate different preferences and schedules.
How are fees and payments handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions are provided through a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What steps are required to begin working together?
To get started, select the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule appointments according to the therapist's availability.

Areas of expertise

Primary focus

Stress, AnxietyTrauma and abuseSelf esteemDepression

Also works with

Relationship issuesGriefIntimacy-related issuesParenting issuesAnger managementCareer difficultiesBipolar disorderCoping with life changesCoachingCompassion fatigue

Additional focus areas

AbandonmentAdoption and foster careAging and geriatric issuesAntisocial personalityAttachment issuesAutism and Asperger SyndromeAvoidant personalityBlended family issuesBody imageCaregiver issues and stressChronic pain, illness, and disabilityCodependencyCommunication problemsControl issuesCoping with natural or human-caused disasterDependent personalityDivorce and separationDomestic violenceEating and food-related issuesEmptinessFamily of origin issuesFamily problemsFatherhood issuesForgivenessHoardingInfidelityIsolation / lonelinessLife purposeMen's issuesMidlife crisisMoney and financial issuesMood disordersMulticultural concernsNarcissismObsessions, compulsions, and OCDPanic disorder and panic attacksParanoiaPersonality disordersPhobiasPostpartum depressionPost-traumatic stressPregnancy and childbirthPrejudice and discriminationSeasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)Self-loveSex addictionSexual dysfunctionSmoking / vaping cessationSocial anxiety and phobiaWomen's issuesWorkplace issuesYoung adult issues

Therapeutic approaches

Attachment-Based TherapyClient-Centered TherapyCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Mindfulness TherapyMotivational InterviewingNarrative TherapyPsychodynamic TherapySolution-Focused TherapySomatic TherapyTrauma-Focused TherapyInternal Family SystemsSystemic Therapy

Experience

30+ years

Licensed

New Jersey

Languages

English