Family Therapy in Northampton, MA

As we go through life, we can find ourselves feeling “stuck” in patterns or situations that limit satisfaction and create barriers to achieving our goals. Sometimes these patterns develop slowly over time and sometimes circumstances shift rapidly – leaving us overwhelmed and unsure of where to go next. I believe the role of psychotherapy is to create an open and affirming space to explore patterns with compassion and curiosity, clarify values, and make progress towards living an authentic and fulfilling life.

Starting therapy can be a difficult step, and you may not know where to start. My goal is to determine that together and support a path of self-understanding and positive change. I enjoy working with adults of all backgrounds and identities dealing with anxiety, depression, identity development, relationship issues, adjustment, grief, and trauma. I also specialize in health psychology with a particular interest in women’s health. Through a warm, curious, and sometimes humorous approach, I strive to make genuine connections to understand client’s needs, hopes, and fears with the goal of self-awareness and transformation.

Dr. Bwint is a warm and genuine psychotherapist who enjoys joining clients to understand what provides their life meaning and fulfillment while also helping to overcome the challenges that prevent them from reaching their goals. In doing so, he prioritizes supportive, honest, and collaborative relationships that help clients to approach challenges in productive and safe ways. Dr. Bwint enjoys working with clients in different life stages, faiths, gender identities, sexual orientations, and other identities. In therapy, he understands and explores the role that our intersecting backgrounds hold in guiding our life experiences.

In life we all need hope, validation, just to know that today, "this too shall pass." I strive to connect with individuals with honesty, warmth, and empathy. When one makes that decision to seek emotional guidance, I understand the vulnerability and the bravery of that moment. While allowing one to take the time they need to reach their desires of the heart and/or identify what one desires through a space of compassion and mindfulness.

Everyone experiences emotions and situations in life that can be overwhelming, burdening, and anxiety-ridden. Many of these symptoms reflect inner conflicts and desires, but also early attachment patterns. Talking to a professional can help you develop insight and change patterns. My training as a psychodynamic psychotherapist and my previous work in neuroscience have shaped my practice philosophy. I believe that we naturally strive toward growth, safety and making relationships fulfilling. I provide a space where we can explore emotional conflicts, and make meaning of them--the basis for change and developing healthier ways of coping.

Under the pressures of today’s world, achieving life satisfaction and a sense of wellbeing can feel more difficult than ever. My goal is to help clients flourish in the face of life’s challenges. I am skilled in helping clients work through stress, anxiety, life adjustment issues, relationship challenges, and self-esteem concerns. I am especially interested in helping with issues related to sexual orientation, identity exploration, sex and sexual functioning, and coping with stigma (e.g., racism, heterosexism, sexism, classism). Working with LGBTQ+ clients, college students, and young professionals is especially rewarding to me.

Will you finally take the step to allow yourself to experience real emotional healing through all layers of the past in your existence and into a resilient and joyful version of yourself? Many avoid to start this journey, yet as you read this you know this is only up to you. By taking an integrative approach in therapy, I guide you in discovering your unperceived wisdom and true essence of being. My vision is based on integrating compassion and genuine empathy in therapy. This is key in helping you process your emotions, while surfacing into light the roots of any situation present in your life and the traumas you have experienced.

Psychodynamic therapy/depth work with adults.

I offer individual psychotherapy to adults. I view therapy not only as a means to reduce emotional distress, but also as an approach to personal growth. I believe that therapy should not be a way of life. I therefore emphasize the acquisition of concrete skills (communication, emotion regulation) and offer solution-focused therapy, while also recognizing that some issues require longer-term work. I view therapy as a collaborative process of exploration. I bring to this process an attitude of compassionate curiosity and non-judgment. I also draw on my own bi-cultural experience - I was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic.

There are times in all of our lives when we need extra support to face challenges, manage transitions and overcome adversities. As a caring and compassionate therapist I am committed to helping you explore the issues that may be holding you back and helping you uncover the innate potential within you to thrive and heal. I have a great deal of experience helping clients manage and overcome depression, anxiety, trauma histories, low self-esteem, and dysfunctional relationship patterns. I bring a wide variety of both professional and personal experience to my clinical work and believe in the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

I offer a compassionate environment in which to heal and transform, beginning with embracing what IS, which allows for a more relaxed, gentle, clear and effective approach to our difficulties. Much of our emotional suffering stems from a disconnection from ourselves and our relationship with life. The work I offer facilitates a deep, authentic connection with oneself through somatic, experiential and psychodynamic work, self-inquiry, mindfulness and the support of the therapeutic relationship. Essentially I see that each person I work with has the full potential for healing already on board. We work to uncover and access that, so that full aliveness is restored.

Feeling stuck? I base much of my approach on the idea that we are not programmed to be our own best friends, and that gets in the way. Our minds' default settings are not usually set up for us to feel extra self-confident, extra self-compassionate, or extra calm when the storms roll in. Life generally doesn't let us off the hook very easily, but if we can learn to look at things in new ways, we can find peace in knowing that we are doing the best we can with what life has dealt us.

Welcome! I'm Patrick Walden, LICSW. I’m a psychotherapist and EMDR Practitioner based in Philadelphia. I help adults from all over the US heal from trauma utilizing EMDR therapy, EMDR intensives, and Narrative Therapy, and I provide Consultation and Training for professionals on the path to becoming EMDR Therapists. If you’ve experienced trauma, you’ll know just how much hold it can have over your life. As a trauma survivor myself, I not only get it, it’s my life’s purpose to help others heal. With EMDR, I've seen amazing results with my clients and those of my Trainees. Whether you’re on an educational or healing journey,

I work with adults, adolescents and children. I am especially interested in helping men improve their communication skills in intimate relationships, and, in parenting; fostering their ability to identify and articulate their feelings, and, being more empathic of the other person.

I have been a practicing psychotherapist for 27 years. I tailor the way I work to what an individual client needs. This might involve understanding how one's past affects current mental health, exploring relationship issues, identifying feelings, or becoming more assertive. In all cases I try to provide a safe and supportive atmosphere.

**Practice full as of Nov 2019** I am a licensed psychologist specializing in therapy with children and adolescents. I believe we all develop "ways of being" in the world as a result of our innate temperament and early experiences. Psychotherapy and psychological testing offer the chance to look at these ways of being with a compassionate lens, honoring the value they have held in your life while determining whether they are still useful to you now. Through this process, new ways of being can emerge, leading to greater satisfaction in your life.

I provide individual psychotherapy from a psychoanalytic perspective. This means that therapy focuses on getting to know you in a very deep way: your history, your needs, your strengths and weaknesses, and how you'd like to lead your life. Therapy is grounded in a strong working relationship that we cultivate over time, one in which you can feel safe being extremely honest and taking emotional risks.

The best way to support healing and transformation is to combine a mind-body approach with psychotherapy. I include expressive therapies, relaxation training and mind-body awareness in my practice. This is suited to clients of all ages with anxieties, stress, blocked emotions and body image problems. I also offer dance movement therapy separately for therapy, training and presentations.

I treat clients with respect and offer the support of an unconditional and positive therapeutic relationship. I especially enjoy working with individuals who are healing from the effects of complex and challenging life events (i.e. traumas).