Rachael Stracka, LCSW, Board Certified Diplomate

I work with clients who may be struggling with anxiety, OCD, trauma and relationship issues with an additional special focus on reproductive and perinatal challenges. Your first session will be a thorough intake assessment so that we can discover exactly what you need help with and make a plan with goals. Most clients start out weekly so that they can see positive changes in a timely manner.

Psychotherapy can help first by helping you know that you are NOT alone, that you matter, and that you are understood. This is huge in a world of quick fixes and deep disconnect. Second, psychotherapy gives you the opportunity to have someone with education, training, experience, and expertise who is not in your personal life work with you to identify and understand what you need to get out of pain and create the life that you want, whether it is in your personal relationships or the workplace, and then to guide you to achieve it. Third, psychotherapy allows you to have time dedicated solely to you with the main purpose of helping you feel better, have better relationships, and meet the goals that you want to achieve.

I use integrative, evidence-based practices based on the issues you need to address. In the first few sessions, we will determine what symptoms to prioritize. Oftentimes it's most helpful to use a combination of therapy types. I use CBT often - looking at your thoughtsbeliefs and how they affect your feelingsbehavior. I also use EMDR frequently to address past traumas or adverse events.

So often people come in to the office saying that they had wanted to go to therapy a long time ago, but that they thought it was for "really messed up people." This is disappointing because nothing could be further from the truth. This perspective is guided (or misguided) by social stigma. We love therapy! We love being the therapists and love being the clients in therapy! The truth is that most people do not go to therapy or counseling or psychotherapy or whatever you want to call it because they are inherently flawed and sick. They go to therapy because they recognize the value in getting help from an educated, trained, and licensed mental health professional whose whole purpose is to assess, join, and help the person out of pain. This is not flawed or weak, but rather brave and smart. We witness many, many people find their strength, wisdom, clarity, and emotional freedom during therapy. This is no coincidence.