Therapists for college students near Boston College
Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.
I am a clinical social worker based in Brookline with accessibility from the C and D lines. I work with adult individuals and couples, with a particular emphasis on life events or transitions that disrupt our sense of who we are. Before going to school to become a therapist, I completed a doctorate in philosophy — a domain of inquiry that continues to inform my clinical work on many levels. My primary therapeutic worldview comes from narrative therapy, which views problems in life as supported by dominant stories about who we are or how we should be. These stories can cause distress when they fail to represent what is most important to us. Instead of seeing such stories as an indication of flaws in a person’s self or personality, I assume they have been introduced from the contexts that have shaped us. In addition to narrative therapy, I draw from Buddhist mind training practices, which cultivate the ability to hold difficult emotions with steadiness and kindness to ourselves. Finally, I am influenced by somatic approaches, which emphasize felt experience in the body as a source of information and an entry point to healing. I aspire to meet everyone I encounter in my work with respect, warmth, and curiosity. I often imagine myself walking alongside the people I work with, but following one step behind. My job is to look out with you at the landscape you see and help you identify places you might like to explore. Then we can visit those places and see how things look from there.
Hello! I am a pre-licensed mental health counselor who works with students navigating through life changes, identity exploration, relationships, and past/current trauma. My goal is to create a space that feels safe, supportive, and comfortable, where showing up as your full self is welcomed and encouraged! I bring a warm, down-to-earth approach that's centered in honesty and compassion, with a focus on helping you feel grounded and empowered. I believe therapy works best when it's a partnership, and together, we’ll explore your experiences with a focus on resilience and your inner strengths!
Swathi is enthusiastic about working with young adults with a variety of presenting concerns such as anxiety, managing stress, trauma, grief, sleep difficulties and chronic medical conditions. Swathi is also interested in supporting individuals with concerns around compulsive behaviors, depression, and gender, and sexuality. Working from an integrative perspective, she utilizes CBT and ACT to formulate treatment plans that work best to create a safe, healing, and effective therapeutic environment for her patients. Currently pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology from William James College, she is focusing on an emphasis in health psychology.
I specialize in working with adults, children, and families who have been impacted by trauma. I have experience in helping clients who struggle with depression, anxiety, dissociation, relationship difficulties, emotional and behavioral dysregulation, and other issues that often result from adverse experiences and traumatic stress. I practice a collaborative approach which honors my clients’ lived experience and allows their needs and our understanding of the challenges they face to shape the specific approaches we use in our work together. I use an integrative style which blends skills-based, relational, and trauma-focused interventions. I see goodness-of-fit as central to the treatment process, and I believe an authentic and trusting relationship is essential to effective therapy. I strive to bring cultural humility to my work, and offer honesty, warmth, humor and compassion to foster the safe environment needed to allow my clients to achieve true growth, healing and transformation. I am fluent in English and Haitian Creole.
Group practice that specializes in several mental health and complex living issues, especially in the college population.
MEDA provides various clinical and therapeutic services to support individuals looking to improve their relationship with food and body. We offer the following services: Assessments to determine what level of care is best suited for your needs. Based on the individual assessment, we will make specialized recommendations for next steps – which may mean seeing a MEDA provider, joining a MEDA therapy group, providing a list of eating disorder specialists in your area, or recommending higher levels of care. Individual Therapy and Nutrition Counseling Sessions provide outpatient care to clients. Therapy Groups are a structured place to build a community with a shared goal of full recovery. Free Drop-in Support Groups are virtual groups moderated by a Master’s level therapist or Graduate clinical intern. Skills Coaching Sessions are supplementary services that assist individuals in identifying and implementing concrete steps to recovery.
“I don’t want to feel like this any longer.” Or “I just want to feel better about myself and my life.” Many of my clients will say something like this. They feel stuck. Anxieties, sadness, pain and the fears of not being good enough only grow. They can point to many good things in their lives but somehow feeling fulfilled and happier isn’t happening. Feeling ashamed to admit even to themselves or others about how hard things are while self-doubt is settling in. Perfectionism, self-criticism and imposter syndrome can tear you down inside even if no one else knows it. Work, school and relationships require energy that is harder to find. The need to present well can be exhausting and at times even destructive. You may try to remind yourself to feel grateful or more positive but sometimes even that reinforces a feeling of shame that your life feels so difficult. The idea of showing up for yourself starts to feel impossible; connecting with friends, family or a partner feels difficult or simply out of reach. Sadness can show up as anger or withdrawing from activities you once enjoyed and withdrawing from people who care about you. As the need to numb yourself grows, alcohol or other addictive patterns may increase. Anxiety, sadness, shame, medical or physical trauma, perinatal challenges, perfectionism and self-criticism, bullying or pain from childhood and family issues, relationship patterns you want to change, sports performance injuries or difficulties, negative thoughts and feelings about yourself and low self-esteem can all have origins in trauma. Trauma may not be the word that is used. Sometimes we think traumatic experiences must be extremely dramatic but actually trauma is experienced by all of us at different times in our lives. Trauma is really anything in our past that is difficult to think about or feel, draining us emotionally. Having a stronger sense of yourself will allow you to respond to challenges with more freedom, as well as direct your life with goals and purpose. If you want to let go of stuff from your past but aren’t sure of how to move forward, I can help.
College can feel like a mix of excitement and pressure all at once. Between academics, relationships, figuring out who you are, and trying to keep up with everything, it’s really easy to feel overwhelmed, anxious, or like you’re just barely holding it together. In therapy, I try to create a space where you don’t have to have it all figured out. We slow things down, make sense of what’s going on, and work together to find ways to feel more grounded and more like yourself again. I really believe people already have strengths in them, even if it doesn’t feel accessible in the moment. My job is to help you reconnect with those strengths and figure out how to use them in real life, especially during stressful or confusing seasons. I work with college students and adults navigating anxiety, depression, relationship stress, trauma, and big life transitions. I use approaches like CBT, mindfulness, and body-based (somatic) work to help you understand what you’re feeling and actually shift it in a practical, supportive way. My fee for a 50-minute session is $180. I also offer a limited number of sliding scale spots ($90–$100) to help make therapy more accessible.
As a Harvard-trained adult psychiatrist, I am trained and experienced in various medication and therapy modalities, enabling me to tailor your care to suit your unique needs and aspirations. My approach revolves around embracing an ecological perspective, acknowledging the intricate interconnections we share within our communities and the natural world, recognizing their profound influence they have on mental health and well-being. Therapy expertise includes working with those navigating experiences as gender or sexual minorities, life transitions, interpersonal difficulties, and low self-esteem. In our work together, I am committed to fostering a nurturing environment that encourages you to freely explore and uncover your inner potential for growth. Taking this brave step towards personal development is significant, and I am here to provide a safe and supportive presence as your path unfolds.
I work with people dealing with depression, anxiety, academic and career issues, recovery from trauma/abuse or neglect, relationship conflicts, or identity/life transitions. My approach is collaborative, empathic, and interactive, creating an environment in which to help you better understand, relate to, and positively address ways in which you might feel stuck. I have specialized training in treating complex trauma. Though I draw from humanistic, psychodynamic, and DBT modalities, in essence my approach is integrative, person-centered, and strength-based. My training experiences include Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital and the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute. I completed a post doctoral fellowship at the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health. Please feel free to email or call me with questions. I look forward to connecting with you. I am an out of network therapist, I am happy to help you or parent submit to your insurance for partial reimbursement.
As a somatic trauma therapist, I specialize in supporting individuals affected by complex childhood and developmental trauma. My approach focuses on helping you tune into the mind-body connection as a pathway to healing and building a stronger connection with yourself. Our work together will be a collaborative effort. We will focus on addressing areas of pain while nurturing your inner strength and resilience. My commitment is to be fully present, creating a supportive environment that allows for personal growth and healing.
Life is like a box of mahjong—you never know what you will draw next, but it is always better to have someone by your side to navigate life's possibilities and challenges. I enjoy working with individuals from diverse backgrounds and take a humanistic approach to my practice, honoring each person's unique story and strengths. If you are facing life transitions, anxiety, or stress, I am here to support you with care and understanding. Whether you are navigating the complexities of aging, caregiving, cultural identity, or adjusting to life as an immigrant, I offer culturally sensitive support tailored to your experiences. Fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, I strive to create a safe and welcoming space for you to share your journey. You might feel overwhelmed, isolated, or unsure of what lies ahead, but I believe in your resilience and potential for growth. Together, we can explore ways to manage challenges, foster meaningful connections, and create a more balanced, fulfilling life. You do not have to face these transitions alone—I am here to walk with you every step of the way.
I graduated from UMass Medical school and was trained in adult psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. Prior to going to medical school I received a Masters in Teaching from Boston University and worked as a teacher. This unique background affects my approach to psychiatry. I believe that a good psychiatrist should work with you to help you learn about yourself and your mental health. I am trained in a variety of therapeutic styles including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), psychodynamic therapy, supportive therapy, and Gottman style couples/relationship therapy. During my time at CHA I worked extensively with the Gender and Sexuality Clinic to serve patients of diverse sexual and gender identities. I also co-lead a group therapy for individuals in polyamorous and non-monogamous relationships. I have taught at the American Psychiatric Association’s specialized rotation for HIV Psychiatry, including lectures on how to provide effective telepsychiatry, and I have presented at a national meeting on teaching providers how to better work with patients to prescribe medications. I am a licensed physician in Massachusetts, New York, and California. I offer in person appointments in Somerville, MA as well as secure telehealth appointments to those residing in Massachusetts, New York, and California. In addition to medication management I offer individual and relationship/couples therapy.
It’s getting harder everyday to keep up with life’s responsibilities. You’re exhausted all the time and can’t stop thinking about future meals or the parts of your body that you hate. You want to get help but you don’t know where to turn, and nobody seems to be talking about how prevalent these issues are in men. You’re not alone. Recent studies have shown that 25% of those diagnosed with an eating disorder are men, and that gay and bisexual men are at an even higher risk. Whether you spend hours everyday thinking about your body, limit yourself to a very strict diet, or find yourself purging after meals…I see you. I know it feels like you’re drowning and can’t find anything to hold on to. But I want you to know that recovery is possible for you. The journey to get there may be long with a lot of ups and downs, but you’re not someone who backs away from a fight. You have things worth living for - and you deserve to experience them with a sense of joy and freedom. I work best with clients who are ready to make changes in their life and believe therapy can be helpful. Ideal clients are looking to establish a long-term therapeutic relationship, have an idea of what to talk about in therapy, and come prepared to sessions and ready to work hard towards bettering themselves.
We are a group of licensed psychotherapists who provide high quality psychotherapy that seek to help people ultimately feel more in charge of their own lives. In our work, we value helping people feel more understood as they face challenges inside and outside of themselves while finding motivation to think and act in more expansive ways that invite more options for the life they want. Our approach endeavors to co-create safe spaces, with deep sensitivity to all the pieces that make up a person’s identity including culture, sexual orientation, race and religion.
Whether you’re seeking a therapist for the first time or looking for a new connection, choosing the right provider can be an intimidating process. Often times the most important factor in therapy is how you feel talking to and sitting with the psychotherapist you select. I treat a wide range of clients from a variety of backgrounds. I am a trauma specialist, and I have a particular focus in attachment trauma, narcissistic abuse, estrangement, toxic family stress, codependency, disordered eating, and complex ptsd. I practice from a relational framework, which is able to uniquely address the nature of these harms and the deeply felt needs of many clients. Working with me will look very different from a cookie cutter therapy response. Instead, you’ll find sitting with me includes personal reflection, humor, emotion and science based care. I am located in Medford off High St and nearby the library. Convenient to Winchester, Arlington, Somerville and Cambridge.
Bernice Ruiz has over 18 years of dedicated service to children, youth, and families as an educator then mental health therapist. Her treatment approach is tailored to each clients' unique needs with a focus on depression, anxiety, relationship issues and school related-issues. She’s collaborated in delivering national suicide-prevention programming and has supported incarcerated mothers after release. As a first generation Haitian-American, she has a particular interest in supporting international students and other first/second-generation students address the stressors of navigating the education system.
Your life is stressful enough as it is and wading through a list of therapists can be hard. We offer both Psychotherapy and Medication Management.