Nancy Montagna, Psychotherapist in Silver Spring, 20910

Nancy Montagna, Ph.D.

Profession(s):
Psychotherapy, Other
License Status:
I'm a licensed professional.
Primary License:
Pscyhologist - 993

My Approach to Helping

Our own minds can multiply, confuse, and perpetuate the inevitable pain in life, or heal us to greater joy, love, and creativity. I will work with you to master your imaginative creation and to steer toward the life you choose with effective strategies. Building on your strengths and the best parts of your life, we will work together to resolve your problems and fulfill your highest dreams. I commit myself to giving my best to you in state-of-the-art psychotherapy.
Mind/Body Health: we can create together self-hypnotic recordings to align the power of your mind with the health of your body. Some health problems, such as allergies to pets and airborne substances, seem to respond especially well to this approach. Unfortuantely, I know of no research to substantiate this claim. We are only beginning to know the extent to which our minds can affect our physical health. Personally, I would seek to direct my mind toward healing from any illness. Please see my website (above) for more on this topic
Singles: Learning to robustly enjoy being single paradoxically prepares you for good loving relationships. We can work together to identify and change unsuccessful patterns and develop strategies for getting what you want.
Couples: After the spontaneous enchantment of falling in love, partners go through predictable stages that require adjustment or result in stress. I will teach to recognize and respond to each other's most vulnerable areas and to negotiate for what you really need and want.
Parents: When you see your child struggling, you may find that your initial response is not helpful. Even a brief consultation can give you an understanding of how to proceed.
Career: Difficulty with a boss, co-worker, subordinate, or client can cause excessive stress and detract from the quality of your work. I will help you to practice the skills of emotional intelligence so you can make the most of your opportunities. If your work is not satisfying to you, we will consider your highest values and greatest strengths. We can look at how your current work can shift to become more fulfilling, and broaden our scope to consider what career changes can lead to a greater sense of pupose and passionate engagement.
Teens: Teens have the great challenge of finding their place in the larger world. Peer judgments, sexual and romantic feelings, and expectations for performance can present pitfalls for their self-esteem until they learn to take a stand for their intrinsic worthiness and discover their unique competencies. They have newly adult bodies and the capacity for actions that have serious consequences. In this transition between child dependence and adult responsibility, they are confronted with choices that have not been provided or screened by their parents. At some point they realize that their parents can no longer control them. They may take their freedom by sneaking and lying to avoid confrontation and therefore lose the benefit of adult guidance and perspective. Ideally, they and their parents learn to negotiate with each other to exchange more responsibility for more freedom.
Elders: Retirement is an opportunity to re-create our lives with new vitality and purpose. To claim this pleasure and joy, we need to complete unfinished business, make peace with losses, harvest the wise learning of a lifetime, and find ways to share this wisdom where it is needed.

More Info About My Practice

Mental Wellness Classes Pathways to Happiness courses are not problem oriented, but rather apply what is known from the latest research into how you can be happier. The world's happiest people cultivate pleasurable emotion, passionate engagement, purposeful activity, and presence (mindfulness or focused attention). Loving relationships are an important part of happiness. Self-help books, even when they supply accurate information, often fail to help because happiness consists largely in the development of happiness habits. Pathways courses, taught on the phone and through email (no commute!) are designed to supply you with inspiration, accountability, and social support to integrate new ways thinking and acting into your daily life. For more information, search online for Pathways to Happiness.

On the Fence About Going to Therapy?

Remember that you are the boss. You are hiring your therapist and can fire them. From the first session, you should get the sense that this person will be good for you, that this person will help you to feel good and empowered, that this person helps make things clear for you. Sometimes people think psychotherapy is about wandering endlessly through past and present pain. It's not. Sometime people think that someone who "nails" them for their mistakes is doing it for their own good. uh uh! You can learn in a more positive way. Sometimes people think psychotherapy is talking to a blank person who says uh huh, uh huh, takes your money and makes another appointment. It's not! If you have any doubt have a sample session with more than one practitioner and choose the one you want.

Services I Provide

Individual Therapy & Counseling
Marriage, Couples, or Relationship Counseling
Coaching
Consultation
Online Counseling / Phone Therapy
Home-Based Therapy
Other

Ages I Work With

Teens
Adults
Elders

Languages I Speak

English
Spanish

Groups I Work With

I work in person, over the phone, and by email to help people respond to the inevitable pain that life brings and to create the lives they want. Are you looking for more serenity, joy, passion, satisfaction, connection, freedom, purpose, pleasurable emotions, effectiveness, and/or presence in your experience of life? You may want to heal from a trauma while keeping whatever strengths and learning you developed as a result of the experience. You may need to grieve a loss and construct life anew, or to make an important life choice in accordance with your highest values. All of this I welcome! You will find that I listen well and engage with you. I will encourage you to accept what is not in your control while doing what you can to move yourself and your environment in a positive direction. I will recognize and appreciate your strengths and see you as a whole body/mind/spirit. I may teach you self hypnosis and make recordings of guided imagery for you to listen to between sessions. There will often be homework! I also offer courses, based on the latest research, that will save you time in therapy. To see these, please visit http://www.pathwaystohappiness.com.