Rachel Borisow

In my role as a therapist, I genuinely enjoy getting to know, deeply understanding, and helping others. I recognize that every person is unique, possessing inherent worth and pre-existing strengths, skills, and challenges, and facing genuinely difficult obstacles. Therefore, I meet each person with unconditional positive regard, and open, nonjudgmental curiosity.

I have worked successfully and collaboratively with a diverse range of adults of all ages (including senior citizens and adolescents), couples, and families. This includes those facing ambivalence at a pivotal juncture in life, as well as those struggling with persistent issues, such as depression or other mood disorders; anxiety disorders; ADHD, neurodivergence, and neurodevelopmental disorders; acute and complex trauma; schizophrenia spectrum disorders; addiction and codependency issues; grief and loss; and issues unique to adolescence, aging, women’s experiences, and gender diversity.

I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at Gettysburg College and my Master's in Clinical Social Work at Rutgers University. In addition to my years in private practice, I have benefited from past experiences working in a high school setting, intensive outpatient settings, programs for those with co-occurring mental health and addiction needs, and programs serving those with co-occurring mental health and neurodevelopmental diagnoses.

All people are unique, and all behavior makes sense in its context when thoroughly explored and understood. I look forward to learning each person’s preferences and life experiences, and enjoy collaborating with them for positive change that significantly impacts their life and their future trajectory.

My therapeutic approach is an eclectic one, built on a foundation of validating influences from Humanistic and strengths-based approaches and drawing from a large variety of evidence-based interventions, including but not limited to Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT); Dialectal Behavior Therapy (DBT); Motivational Interviewing (MI); Family Systems interventions, including but not limited to SFT; a variety of psychodynamic approaches; Internal Family Systems (IFS); and mindfulness-based approaches, such as EFT (including but not limited to ”Tapping”), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and improving the brain’s experience and processing of emotions through interoception. I continue to learn and incorporate new evidence-based treatment approaches as appropriate. I invite and value the feedback I receive from clients and use it to inform and optimize treatment outcomes, as one of the wonderful things about therapy is that the learning goes both ways!

From time to time challenges can emerge that exceed our current resources or skills. At these times, it helps to have the understanding, support, and assistance of an objective but caring and experienced ally. However, an initial session with a new therapist can be a source of some anxiety. My initial priority is ensuring your comfort and building positive rapport and trust while getting to know you and your life experiences, past and present. We can then collaborate to identify goals and integrate evidence-based interventions we both find appropriate to you as a person and your current life context, prioritizing those that inspire hope, confidence, and motivation for positive change.