New RiverValley therapist focuses on hope, inclusion in Hancock County

RiverValley Behavioral Health has added a new outpatient therapist serving children, adolescents and families in Hancock County.

Mary Johnson, a licensed professional counseling associate, began seeing clients June 1 at the organization’s clinic in Lewisport.

Johnson brings a multimodal approach to her work, tailoring care to each individual’s needs. She works with clients experiencing challenges such as anxiety, depression, trauma, mood disorders, relationship conflicts, inner self-conflict, behavioral dysregulation, grief and loss, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Originally from Louisville, she spent most of her life there, aside from her undergraduate years at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond from 2015 to 2019.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master of Education in counseling and personnel services from the University of Louisville. Her interest in the field developed early, shaped by her own experiences and those of people close to her.

After completing her undergraduate degree, she said she initially felt uncertain about pursuing counseling because of the demands of the profession. During the pandemic, she said she had time to reflect and ultimately decided to continue her education and enter the field.

“I’ve known a lot of people in my life who’ve struggled with their mental health and always wanted to know how they could get the help they needed and how I could help them find that help,” she said. “Just growing up and watching them struggle really made me want to be a person who could help.”

Johnson’s counseling style draws from several therapeutic methods. She frequently incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy and motivational interviewing. She also uses play-therapy, expressive techniques, art-based interventions, acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy when appropriate.

Her priority is creating a safe, inclusive environment where clients feel comfortable addressing challenges and working toward healthier outcomes. She aims to offer compassionate, personalized care to help people build healthier, more fulfilling futures.

“I want to bring hope and healing to the community in Hancock County in any way that is needed,” Johnson said. “I would like to bring a reminder to all of the community members that managing mental health struggles is a community effort in itself, and everyone has a choice when it comes to how we talk about and respond to mental health within our own community.”

She said the way people talk about mental health can influence whether those who are struggling feel accepted and supported. She hopes to expand access to services locally and provide a positive first experience for those seeking care, making it easier for them to return if they need more support.

Johnson said those goals are closely connected to how seriously communities take mental health and whether they recognize the risks of leaving struggles unaddressed.

She noted that many people do not have close contact with someone who has a mental health struggle and might not realize how high the suicide rate has risen in recent years. It really is alarming, she said, and she believes it is partly a community effort to help those numbers decrease, alongside individual care and broader mental health resources.

Johnson said stigma and the way people talk about others in their community can play a significant role in those struggles.

She said growing up around LGBTQ+ friends and loved ones showed her how deeply rejection and judgment can affect a person’s mental health. Many of them told her about feeling depressed or anxious because they could not be themselves around family or in their communities.

“They would confide in me and tell me, ‘I’m really depressed because my family doesn’t accept me’ or ‘I have really high anxiety because I feel like I can’t be myself,'” she said. “It was heartbreaking to feel helpless as a person who really loved those people. It made me angry and sad at the same time that the people who I loved so much for who they were felt like they couldn’t be themselves.”

She said watching loved ones carry that kind of rejection made her more aware of how people can end up feeling both alone and isolated, even when they still live and work in the same communities. Those feelings can build over time when people repeatedly get the message that they are not fully accepted.

Ongoing judgment and exclusion can wear people down over time, especially when they already feel different from those around them.

“It absolutely goes beyond the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. “Any community that is being marginalized or just judged, oppressed, or whatever word you want to call it. When you grow up in a community where you know you’re different and cannot really show those parts of yourself, it creates a sense of isolation and loneliness. And isolation and loneliness are actually two of the factors that are involved in the risk of suicide.”

Those patterns can emerge in any town, but they can feel especially intense in close-knit communities where people often know one another’s families and histories. When individuals already feel alone and isolated, repeated gossip, judgment or exclusion can deepen that pain instead of helping them heal, making it more difficult for them to reach out for support when they need it most.

Johnson said those challenges also show up for people who are neurodivergent, including those with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities or intellectual disabilities, whose brains simply work differently than what many consider “typical.” She said they may move, communicate or respond to crowded environments in ways others do not expect, especially when they are overstimulated or anxious in public settings.

Her interest in neurodivergence is also personal. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD and said finally having a name for what she was experiencing helped her better understand herself and her needs.

“It’s really difficult to go through life feeling like you’re different from other people and not really understanding what’s going on,” she said. “I had the feeling that I knew I was different and that my brain might not work as well as other people. There is so much relief that comes with, ‘Oh, this is what’s going on. I’m so grateful that I have this information to let me know that this is a part of who I am, and that’s OK.'”

Many children and adults can go years without understanding why they feel overwhelmed or overstimulated in certain situations, which can leave them questioning their worth or abilities. She said getting an accurate diagnosis and support can help people see their differences as part of who they are, rather than as a flaw.

“People who have ADHD and autism are considered part of that neurodivergent community,” she said. “Also, people who may have a learning disability or some type of intellectual disability, those people can also be considered neurodivergent. That’s just because their brain works differently than people who, in the clinical community, we would call neurotypical. Neurotypical is the word for people who are not part of those communities.”

Neurodivergent people, she said, make up a significant share of the population and may move, communicate or cope with sensory overload differently than others, especially in crowded or noisy places.

At gatherings such as festivals or ballgames, those differences can become more visible when a person is overwhelmed or anxious. Families often prepare carefully before going out, planning breaks and supports so their child or loved one can be comfortable at the event. A single comment like “What’s wrong with that person?” or a pointed look can turn an outing into a distressing experience.

“Awareness is key,” Johnson said. “I would encourage people who may not understand those behaviors to think about what it would be like if that was their loved one, their child or their friend, and whether they would still pass the same kind of judgment or want to support them instead.”

She hopes more people will pause before reacting and choose compassion over criticism when they see someone behaving differently in public. Small shifts in how people think and talk can help make community spaces feel safer for those who already feel vulnerable.

Those judgments are felt, especially when people whisper, gossip or stare. Many who are already highly sensitive and easily overstimulated can pick up on even very subtle shifts in tone or body language, and what was meant to be a chance to enjoy a community event can instead reopen old wounds or add to their distress.

Some individuals may avoid social situations altogether because they know they will not feel safe or supported in that setting, while others in the “ingroup” can show up, receive comfort and feel included. That kind of exclusion creates unnecessary stumbling blocks in the healing process and makes it difficult for a healthy community to grow when the underlying toxicity goes unaddressed.

“It really is a community-wide problem,” she said. “Any community can be impacted by this. I’m from a bigger area, so I don’t know all of the ins and outs of what it’s like to come from a small community. I’m still gradually learning how it impacts people who live in those communities and who come from those communities. I really hope to expand my knowledge of how that has impacted people and try to help other mental health professionals who work in the area come up with some type of solution. I don’t know if there will ever be a full solution because it’s a very complex problem.”

She hopes to lessen how much a lack of acceptance weighs on people’s mental health and wants those who feel they do not belong to know there are people in the community who care and want to help. She said she would like to see prevention and intervention programs that teach youth and the adults who work with them about the harm caused by bullying and gossip, so the community can address problems earlier instead of trying to “put out the fire” after the damage has already been done.

Before joining RiverValley, she spent two years with Seven Counties Services, a nonprofit community mental health provider in the Louisville area. She completed a year of student counseling there in Oldham County and was later hired as a full-time outpatient therapist after she graduated and became licensed, which she said was her first experience providing therapy.

Johnson moved to the county about a month ago with her boyfriend, Hancock County native Jordan Boling, so they could be closer to his family. They are staying in his grandmother’s house in Lewisport for now, which she said has been a huge help and a welcome fresh start for them.

“I’m really happy to be living closer to them,” she said. “They are all really nice, and Jordan’s nephew and niece, Easton and Dani, are so much fun to be around. I love working with kids. All of the young people in my family are in their 20s, so it’s nice to be around the little ones.”

Spending time with her three black cats and enjoying nature is how she likes to fill some of her free time. She said the move from Louisville has been a huge change from the city traffic and pace, and that life in Lewisport is a lot quieter, which she has found to be a nice change.

Johnson said she is really enjoying her work at RiverValley. She is excited about the opportunity and wants people to feel comfortable reaching out when they are struggling with their mental health.

“I want to encourage people that I don’t think there is anything wrong with seeking help if you need it,” she said. “I want everyone to know that having a mental health struggle does not make you anything less than a worthy person. I wish people would treat going to therapy just like going to a doctor. When our stomach hurts, we go to the doctor and we get checked out. If we are feeling really sad a lot of the time, for example, I don’t think it should be any different and looked at any differently to just go and talk to someone about what’s going on and ‘How can I be a healthier me?’ I encourage people to think about mental health in that way. If we can all come together as a community and have more of that mindset, then we can end the stigma around mental health and make our community more inclusive.”

Johnson sees clients at RiverValley’s Hancock County outpatient clinic in Lewisport Monday through Thursday and provides services to children and adolescents in Henderson County on Fridays.

RiverValley Behavioral Health’s Hancock County outpatient clinic, at 1210 Fourth St. in Lewisport, provides outpatient mental health and substance use services for adults, children and families. For more information, call 270-831-8489 or visit rvbh.com. Updates are also available on the RiverValley Facebook page.