The Therapist Diaries

Hello and Welcome Back to The Therapist Diaries,  I was driving home from the airport last week when Fergie’s Big Girls Don’t Cry came on the radio. Now, anybody who knows me knows this song is absolutely one of my jams. The volume immediately went up, I was singing dramatically at the top of my lungs, and for those four minutes you would genuinely think I was going through the most devastating heartbreak known to mankind, despite being perfectly happy and emotionally stable moments before. As always, the emotional performance ended exactly when the song did, but this time, somewhere between the chorus and my Oscar-worthy solo performance, I started thinking about something that has come up repeatedly in sessions with clients recently. Crying. More specifically, crying when you really do not want to cry. It's something I’ve always done, and something so many of the young adults and women I work with do.  It's as though any strong emotion swings open the floodgates. Sadness, f...

Hello and Welcome Back to The Therapist Diaries,  This week at my private practice, we've been busy planning for an Intensive ART service we'll be providing next week in London. This service will include 14-16 hours of therapy over a period of two days. At Voyager we offer these in office, in a retreat like setting, or in the client's own home if that's more comfortable for them. Intensive services of any kind are a lot, but for us, we specialize in Trauma Therapy, so two whole days is a huge commitment from the client. It's mentally and physically exhausting and takes a lot out of the client. So why do we offer it? The results speak for themselves. Research suggests that intensive therapy can achieve similar results in a short window of time, as up to a year of weekly sessions. Why? Because there's no progress lost between sessions. If you could help someone heal in 1-5 days compared to a year, wouldn't you want to give it a go?  The success of intensive se...

Hello and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries,  When people think about therapy, they often picture the techniques used, coping skills, worksheets, breathing exercises, EMDR, CBT, trauma processing. Those tools absolutely have value. But after years of sitting across from clients I can tell you with confidence that the most powerful force in therapy isn’t a worksheet or a modality. It’s the relationship. The therapeutic relationship is the professional bond between you and your therapist. It is built on trust, emotional safety, mutual respect, collaboration, and clear boundaries. It is not a friendship, and it is not advice-giving. It is a structured, ethical relationship designed entirely around your growth and well-being. In a strong therapeutic relationship, you feel heard rather than judged, understood rather than analyzed, supported without being rescued, and challenged without being shamed. It becomes the space where you can say the thing you’ve never said out loud before. ...

 Hello and Welcome Back to The Therapist Diaries,  In the United States, many of us have just wrapped up celebrations for Thanksgiving, a holiday where friends and family come together and enjoy each other's company. It's not, however, always as joyful as it seems. As many of you know, one of my gigs as a Trauma Therapist is to work for the Mobile Crisis Hotline. This week I went to assess a teenager at the hospital, and she said something which really struck me. She said, "I hate it when the house is full of people. I feel so lonely, and I hate it." At first, I thought she had misspoken. What does she mean she feels lonely when the house is full of people? Surely that makes her feel the opposite. I asked her to repeat herself and she said the same thing again. She hadn't misspoken the first time; I just hadn't  heard  her.  The truth is that loneliness is a complicated emotion, and it often shows up in ways that don’t seem to make sense. Many people come ...

  Hello and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries,  In today’s wellness-focused world, it can be hard to keep track of all the different types of support available. Therapy, life coaching, mental health coaching, sure they all sound helpful, but what exactly sets them apart? Understanding the difference between mental health coaching and therapy is important, especially if you’re looking for the kind of support that best fits your current needs and goals. While both are rooted in a desire to help people live more fulfilling lives, they serve very different purposes and follow different approaches. Therapy , also known as counseling or psychotherapy, is a clinical service provided by licensed professionals such as LCSWs (In the USA), psychologists, or psychiatrists. It is grounded in evidence-based practices (which means it's tried and tested) and is designed to help people work through emotional pain, mental health diagnoses, and patterns that may stem from past experiences or...

  Hello and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries!  Continuing on with my first time in therapy series , today I’m answering the question “how do I know if I need therapy?” It’s a question I’ve heard countless times, from clients, acquaintances, and even fellow professionals during vulnerable moments. And if you’ve found your way to this post, maybe it’s been circling around your own mind lately too. First of all: you’re not alone in wondering. There’s no flashing neon sign that tells us, “Time to see a therapist!” And despite the progress we’ve made around mental health awareness, there’s still a lot of confusion (and sometimes shame) around what therapy is for and who it’s for. So, let me start with something simple and maybe a little surprising: You don’t need to be in crisis to seek therapy. Many people come to therapy not because things are falling apart, but because they want support navigating something that feels hard, confusing, or heavy. Therapy isn’t just for the wo...

  Hello, and welcome back to the Therapist Diaries!  In the last post we talked about how to find the right therapist for you and how to walk away or switch it up if something didn’t feel right. Today, we’re looking at the types of therapy because engaging in the right modality is just as important as finding the right provider. Sometimes clients come to therapy knowing exactly what they want, sometimes they even seek out clinicians especially for that treatment (this is usually the case with something like ART or EMDR) but more often than not, clients come to therapy either expecting nothing but talk therapy or having no clue what to expect at all.  The truth is that therapy is not one-size-fits-all. There are many different approaches, or modalities, each with their own strengths, applications, and quirks. So, I’m going to unpack some of the most well-known therapy modalities by looking at what they are, what they’re best used for, and a few pros and cons of eac...

  Hello and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries!  For this Wellness Wednesday post, I'm going to let you in on some tips to help you find the best therapist for you, because therapy should feel like a safe place, not just another appointment on your calendar. And if it doesn’t feel like a good fit, it’s okay to admit that something’s not working. In fact, that awareness is a form of progress. I can’t tell you how many clients have come to me saying, “I tried therapy before, but it didn’t really help.” More often than not, it’s not that therapy as a whole failed, it’s that the relationship with their therapist wasn’t quite right. And that’s something we as therapists don’t talk to clients about enough. We get so focused on starting the therapy that we sometimes forget some basic introduction and foundational work such as giving client's guidance on how to advocate for themselves in terms of therapy and providers meeting their needs.  Let’s rewind for a second. Say you...

Hello and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries,  It's Wellness Wednesday and today  we’re talking about mental health survival kits because  let’s be real: adulting is a lot. You’re  out there working, commuting, navigating relationships, juggling bills, trying to eat vegetables   and   remember your login password for the 12th time this week. Some days you feel like you’re in survival mode… because you are. As a Clinical Social Worker who works with young adults in their 20s and 30s (and as someone firmly in the “functioning but tired” crew), I’ve learned this:  mental health isn’t just about therapy or deep healing work. Sometimes it’s about what’s in your bag when everything feels like too much. So here it is:  my on-the-go Mental Health Survival Kit. Some  actual, tangible items I (and my clients) carry to stay grounded, centered, and  human  in the chaos of real life. I keep mine in a small pencil case at the bottom of my bag,...

Hello, and welcome back to The Therapist Diaries!  One of the most common questions I get asked during therapy sessions is, “What can I do when I feel overwhelmed?” And let me tell you, it’s a great question.  My boyfriend and I have this thing where we tell each other to "woosah", a reference straight from Bad Boys II . Now, before you start picturing us in a high-speed car chase, let me clarify it’s mostly just a fun little way to hit the reset button when things start to get too much. It’s funny, we laugh, and boom, the stress melts away... well, sort of. But here’s the kicker: there’s actually some solid therapeutic technique behind that "woosah" moment. It’s not just a random Hollywood reference. It taps into mindfulness strategies and relaxation practices that can really help when you’re feeling frazzled.So, while we’re not out here solving crimes in Miami, we are practicing some legit stress management.  As a therapist, I find myself teaching certain tools o...

Hello there!  Welcome to The Therapist Diaries , where we spill the tea (ethically, of course) on all things therapy. Today, let’s talk about something that’s been floating around in my head lately — the things I wish my clients knew before (and during) therapy. Not because you’re doing anything wrong (you’re not), but because if I could wave a magic wand and make therapy feel a little less intimidating and a lot more empowering, I totally would. Here’s what I’d say:  1. You don’t need to “have it all together” to start therapy. Actually, if you did have it all together, we’d just sit in silence making awkward eye contact. So many people think that therapy is something we do AFTER, and sometimes it can be- after a crisis, a shift in life, or emotional distress. But therapy is also for people who are CURRENTLY messy, confused, tired, overwhelmed, hopeful, heartbroken, healing — or all of the above. You don’t need to rehearse your “life story” before you walk in. You just ...

  Hi everyone!  I'm Georgina,  a Licensed Masters Social Worker (LMSW) with focus in trauma-informed care. My clinical journey began in Crisis Intervention Services, where I worked with individuals navigating acute emotional and mental health crises. Since then, I’ve gained experience across a wide range of settings, including adult and child residential treatment facilities, hospital Emergency Department care, and outpatient services- notably the Yale Child Study Center created program IICAPS (Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services). I specialize in treating individuals impacted by complex trauma, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and the emotional toll of chronic illness. I have experience with co-occurring disorders, substance use, problematic sexual behaviors, and clients with histories of self-harm or suicidal behaviors. I am trained in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI). In my individual and group ...

Hey there! Welcome to The Therapist Diaries.  I'm Georgina and I'm a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) in Connecticut, USA. This blog is where I’ll be sharing bits and pieces from my life as a clinician — everything from stories (without names, don’t worry!) and interesting things I see in sessions, to cool new research and handy resources that anyone can use. If you’ve ever wondered what therapy really looks like behind the scenes, or you just want some easy-to-understand info about mental health, this is the place for you. I’ll also be chatting about self-care for therapists (because, yep, we need that too!) and sharing tips and tools that can help you manage stress, anxiety, and all the ups and downs life throws at us. Whether you’re thinking about therapy, already seeing a therapist, studying to be one, or just curious — you’re welcome here. I hope this blog feels like a friendly, no-judgment zone where we can learn and grow together. Thanks for stopping by — I’m exc...