Margaret Johnston, LMHC

Margaret Johnston is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Florida with 11 years of clinical experience. She works with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, and challenges that come with life changes. She also supports people facing relationship and intimacy concerns, eating and body image issues, ADHD and bipolar-related struggles, and LGBT and gender dysphoria matters.

Johnston trained at the University of North Florida where she earned a Master of Clinical Psychotherapy in 2013. She completed a nine-month internship in Clinical Pastoral Education focused on deep listening, and she spent time in a program serving wounded service members. That background shaped her emphasis on careful listening and steady presence.

Her approach blends practical methods with person-centered care. Sessions focus on noticing unhelpful thoughts and habits, naming unmet emotional needs, and planning specific steps forward. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy alongside Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and attachment-informed work when those approaches fit the client’s goals.

In sessions she reflects emotions, clarifies options, and helps clients map realistic goals and next steps. She pays attention to racial identity and social context when those issues matter to the client. She also works with relationship concerns tied to nontraditional sexual and relationship cultures, including kink and polyamory.

Margaret describes herself as inclusive and affirming. She aims to listen closely, help people understand patterns that get in the way, and support practical problem solving to reduce disruption from past trauma and present stress.

How these approaches are used in online sessions