Philip Bower

I’m a licensed independent clinical social worker serving adults through telehealth. I hold advanced graduate training in social work and am independently licensed in Massachusetts, Maine, and Washington. My professional background includes outpatient mental health care, trauma-responsive therapy, behavioral health program development, and work with people navigating complex identities and life transitions.

I especially welcome LGBTQIA+ adults and others who have felt pressured to edit, minimize, or explain important parts of themselves. My treatment areas include anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and loss, identity development, relationship concerns, life transitions, shame, self-worth, and the effects of difficult family, cultural, or religious environments. My practice is affirming, sex-positive, kink-aware, and supportive of diverse relationship structures. You do not need to make yourself easier to understand before coming to therapy.

My approach is warm, collaborative, direct, and grounded in genuine curiosity about your whole life—not just a list of symptoms. I draw from acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness, self-compassion, trauma-responsive care, and relational and strengths-based approaches. Together, we explore how your internal experiences, relationships, environment, culture, and sense of purpose affect one another.

I will not simply sit back and expect you to carry the entire conversation. I offer thoughtful questions, observations, practical tools, and honest feedback while respecting your pace and autonomy. Therapy with me makes room for complexity, humor, grief, anger, uncertainty, and the parts of your story that may not have felt welcome elsewhere.

Our first session is a chance to begin understanding what brings you to therapy, what has been happening in your life, and what you hope might change. I’ll ask about your current concerns, relevant history, relationships, strengths, supports, and any previous experiences with therapy. You are welcome to share at a pace that feels manageable; you do not need to tell your entire story in one meeting.

We will also discuss how I work, what you need from a therapist, and whether the relationship feels like a good fit. By the end of the session, we will begin identifying your priorities and possible next steps. My goal is for you to leave feeling heard, respected, and clearer about how we might work together.