Danika Girdner
Compassionate support for relationship and family stress
MD, LCSW-C Maryland
- Experience
- 5 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Relationship, Family, Intimacy-related issues
- Approaches
- Gottman Method, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Languages
- English
About Danika
Danika Girdner, MD, LCSW-C helps people who are struggling with relationship and family concerns. She supports couples and individuals working through intimacy issues, parenting stress, anger, low self-esteem, and challenges related to trust and commitment.
Background and approach
She uses straightforward, practical methods in sessions. Conversations focus on improving communication and reducing recurring conflicts.
Sessions are collaborative and calm, with an emphasis on skills people can use between meetings. Her background includes five years of professional experience in clinical settings in Maryland.
That experience includes work with blended family problems, caregiver stress, and patterns tied to family of origin. She also addresses issues such as dependent or avoidant personality traits and difficulties with control and forgiveness.
Danika draws on approaches like the Gottman Method to look at how couples interact, and she combines that with cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness to help people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ideas are used when values and committed action need attention.
Sessions aim to be practical and paced to the client's needs. People can expect clear goals, skill practice, and regular check-ins on progress.
The focus is on making small, steady changes that improve day-to-day relationships and personal wellbeing.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online work
Gottman Method work looks at everyday interaction patterns between partners. Online sessions can examine those patterns through conversation, role-play, and guided exercises that help couples notice and shift unhelpful habits. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on clarifying values and taking small committed steps. In video or text sessions this can mean setting clear goals and practicing value-based actions between meetings.Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will collaborate with each person or couple to choose methods that match goals, comfort level, and life demands. She will check in regularly and adjust methods if something is not working for the client.
Online formats offer flexibility for busy lives. Video calls work well for conversations and exercises that rely on visual cues. Phone sessions can fit into a work break or be better when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for brief check-ins, skill practice, and ongoing support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to maintain continuity and apply skills in real time.
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
5+ years
Licensed in
Maryland
Languages
English