People start therapy for a variety of reasons, and the first session is often a pivotal step towards understanding and addressing those concerns.

Some find themselves in therapy because they're navigating a rocky relationship and are seeking clarity on how to move forward.

Others may be experiencing feelings of sadness or anxiety without fully understanding the root cause.

There are those who grapple with overwhelming emotions, finding every feeling to be too intense to manage alone.

People who have suffered a trauma often seek therapy to confront and process their experiences, which may be haunting their thoughts.

Physical symptoms like headaches, stomach-aches, or a weakened immune system can also lead individuals to seek therapeutic support when no clear medical explanation is found.

Additionally, some may be unhappy with their use of a substance as a means of coping.

For some, life may feel devoid of purpose, making it a struggle to muster the motivation to even get out of bed in the morning.

Others may feel so consumed by a particular desire or goal that they find it difficult to concentrate or sleep due to their preoccupation.

Uncertainty about personal desires or doubts about their legitimacy are common concerns that prompt individuals to seek guidance.

Moreover, some recognize that they're self-sabotaging their own goals and aspirations, and they're eager to break free from these patterns.

And then there are those who feel trapped by the expectations of others, struggling to reconcile their own desires with the perceived needs of those around them.

Maybe your reason for seeking treatment fits neatly with one of the above examples, maybe it does not. Whatever your reason for seeking psychotherapy, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me to see if I can help.

Adults (18+), individuals residing in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. I welcome all identities, genders, and backgrounds.

I can help you with a variety of symptoms, including but not limited to:

Depression, anxiety, relationship issues, alcohol use, addictions, personality disorders, chronic pain, drug abuse, internet addiction, gambling, infidelity, chronic procrastination, low self-esteem, psychosomatic issues, anger issues, obsessive thoughts, compulsive behavior, panic attacks, hoarding, sexual issues, stress, eating disorders, emotional disturbance, PTSD, life transitions, gender issues, loneliness, family conflict, identity issues, stress, and trauma.

If you find that your problem doesn’t fall neatly into one of the above-mentioned categories, I encourage you to reach out nevertheless to see if I can help.

Many other forms of therapy today focus strictly on symptom reduction, ignoring the fact that symptoms—while they may look quite similar from person to person—are unique expressions of unconscious conflicts particular to each individual. Unless the unconscious conflicts get resolved, the symptoms will continue to repeat and/or mutate into something else. Thus, a girl in her teens may engage in self-harm, as a young adult have an eating disorder, and in middle age be addicted to drugs and alcohol. When the underlying root problems remain unaddressed, it leads to the phenomenon of “revolving door” patients, i.e. people who are in and out of therapy for years, if not decades. Worse still, many of these people may give up on therapy entirely, believing they are beyond help, or that all therapy is a scam, when in actuality the method of treatment was faulty.

Additionally, many other forms of therapy today are directive in their approach, meaning that the therapist takes on the role of educator and teaches the client a set of skills, tools, or strategies that the client believes themselves to be lacking, e.g., assertiveness skills or emotional regulation training. These approaches can be of some help to people, they can provide some short-term relief, but they do not address the unconscious, and thus they are limited in their curative effects. Furthermore, they presuppose that the therapist’s views about reality and normality are Right, and they discredit ways of acting and being that fall outside this predetermined scope.

In my practice, symptoms are understood within the context of the individual’s life as a whole. The therapy is non-directive and guided by the speech of the person coming to treatment. Lastly, it is the unconscious that is put front and center as the target of therapeutic intervention. Because the treatment aims at the root causes of one’s mental and emotional suffering, the changes that occur are psychologically deeper and have greater relapse-prevention power than other modalities.

Yes, it is:

• Barsness, Roy. E. “Therapeutic Practices in Relational Psychoanalysis: A Qualitative Study.” Psychoanalytic Psychology, 38.1 (2021): 22–30.

• Cornelius, John Thor. “The Case for Psychoanalysis: Exploring the Scientific Evidence.” Core Competencies of Relational Psychoanalysis. Ed. Roy E. Barsness. New York: Routledge, 2018. 24-42.

○ See Cornelius’ video presentation here.

• De Maat, Saskia, Frans de Jonghe, Robert Schoevers, and Jack Dekker. “The Effectiveness of Long-Term Psychoanalytic Therapy: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies.” Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 17.1 (2009): 1–23.

• Knekt, Paul, Olavi Lindfors, Maarit A Laaksonen, Camilla Renlund, Peija Haaramo, Tommi Härkänen, Esa Virtala, and the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study Group. “Quasi-experimental study on the effectiveness of psychoanalysis, long-term and short-term psychotherapy on psychiatric symptoms, work ability and functional capacity during a 5-year follow-up.” Journal of Affective Disorders. 132.1-2 (2011): 37-47.

• Leichsenring, Falk., Allan Abbass, Nikolas Heim, John R. Keefe, Steve Kisely, Patrick Luyten, Sven Rabung, and Steinert, Christiane. “The status of psychodynamic psychotherapy as an empirically supported treatment for common mental disorders – an umbrella review based on updated criteria.” World Psychiatry. 22 (2023): 286-304.

• Leichsenring, Falk and Susanne Klein. “Evidence for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in Specific Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review.” Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. 28.1 (2014): 4-32.

• Leichsenring Falk and Sven Rabung. “Effectiveness of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy: a meta-analysis.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 300.13 (2008): 1551-65.

• Leichsenring Falk and Sven Rabung. “Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in complex mental disorders: update of a meta-analysis.” British Journal of Psychiatry. 199.1 (2011): 15-22.

• Fonagy, Peter. “The Effectiveness of Psychodynamic Psychotherapies: An Update.” World Psychiatry. 14.2 (2014): 137-150.

• Leuzinger-Bohleber, Marianne, Mark Solms and Simon E. Arnold. Outcome Research and the Future of Psychoanalysis: Clinicians and Researchers in Dialogue. New York: Routledge, 2020.

• Shedler, Jonathan. “The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.” American Psychologist. 65.2 (2010): 98-109.

• Solms, Mark. “The Scientific Standing of Psychoanalysis.” British Journal of Psychiatry. 15.1 (2018): 5-8.

• Yakeley, Jessica. “Psychoanalysis in Modern Mental Health Practice.” The Lancet Psychiatry. 5.5 (2018): 443-450.

I only offer services remotely.

I find teletherapy to be just as effective as in-person counseling, but it is far more convenient and makes psychotherapy accessible to more people.

Sessions are typically conducted online on a safe and secure HIPAA-compliant video platform. We can also speak over the phone.

In Massachusetts, I am In-Network with the following providers:

Cigna

Aetna

Wellfleet

Meritain

Nippon

United Healthcare Shared Services

Allied Benefit Systems - Aetna

Christian Brothers Services - Aetna

Trustmark Health Benefits - Aetna

Trustmark Health Benefits - Cigna

Trustmark Small Business Benefits - Aetna

Health Scope - Aetna

If you would like to submit Out-of-Network claims, I can provide you with billing statements to provide your insurance provider.

4/22/2024 -I am in the process of getting paneled for additional insurances including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, United Healthcare, Oscar, Optum, and more. So please check back in a few weeks to see if I am paneled.

My out-of-pocket fee is $150 per session. If the cost is prohibitive to you, please reach out anyways as I may have some openings at a reduced rate.

Significant, long-lasting change takes time. It’s easy to sell quick solutions, and while they may provide some relief, it doesn’t take long for the same problems to come right back. If you’d like to read the latest research on treatment length, please click here to learn more.

Sessions are typically scheduled for 45 minutes, but they may sometimes run shorter or longer than this standard duration. In line with the psychoanalytic teachings of Jacques Lacan, I practice the variable-length session, which means that I may at times end the session early or extend its length in order to create various therapeutic effects. This intervention prevents the stagnation and routinization of unnecessarily long treatment, and it also hedges against an unhealthy dependency upon the therapist, which is a problem that often pervades other therapeutic approaches.

If you are unable to make your appointment, please cancel or reschedule as soon as possible. I have a 48-hour policy for cancellations for therapy appointments. This means I expect you to give me more than 48-hours notice if you are unable to attend a scheduled session time. Any cancellations made within 48 hours of your appointment time slot are subject to the full out-of-pocket session fee. You are subject to the same fee if you're a no-show or miss consecutive appointments without notice. Your credit card on file will be charged that fee automatically. If your late cancellation or no-show is due to an unexpected family or clinical emergency such as hospitalization, contagious illness like COVID-19, death in the family, or natural disaster, please contact my practice immediately to discuss waiving this cancellation fee.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any additional questions. See below for my Contact information.