Stephen Smith

Sometimes the most frustrating problems are the ones you already understand intellectually but still find yourself repeating. You may recognize the same relationship patterns, fears, habits, or reactions showing up again and again while wondering why insight alone has not been enough to change them. I work with adults and older adults navigating substance use and addiction, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, and trauma, along with concerns such as PTSD, OCD, and family challenges when they are connected to the patterns affecting your everyday life. I am a clinical psychologist, educator, and writer with 25 years of experience helping people better understand themselves and create meaningful change. My academic background includes degrees from Harvard University in counseling theory and psychology, a master's degree in teaching, and a PsyD in Clinical Psychology. I am also the author of books exploring thought patterns, fear, behavior, personal change, and children's experiences through imagination and humor. That curiosity about how people make sense of themselves and the world around them continues to shape the way I approach therapy.

I believe understanding what lies beneath a problem gives you more choices about what to do with it. Therapy with me is thoughtful, practical, collaborative, and interactive. We may explore the beliefs, fears, assumptions, relationships, past experiences, and recurring patterns that contribute to what is happening now, but our work will not stop at insight. The goal is to develop greater awareness of how you think, how you respond, and where you have the ability to make different choices in everyday life. Substance use, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, or trauma may be what initially brings you to therapy, while PTSD, OCD, family dynamics, or long-standing behavioral patterns can add important layers to that experience. Depending on your needs, I may draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Psychodynamic and Schema Therapy, Strength-Based and Positive Psychology approaches, Humanistic Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, the Unified Protocol, Multi-Systemic Therapy, and transpersonal approaches. I adapt the work to the individual rather than trying to fit every client into the same therapeutic formula.

You can expect therapy to be more than a place where you talk about what happened during the week. During our first few sessions, we will look at what brought you to therapy, what has been difficult recently, what patterns you have noticed, and what you genuinely want to be different moving forward. Together, we will establish realistic goals and determine where our work can have the greatest impact. My style is straightforward, supportive, solution oriented, and often appropriately humorous. I will ask questions, offer feedback, and help you examine patterns from perspectives you may not have considered before. Progress may mean understanding yourself more clearly, responding differently to fear or difficult emotions, changing a recurring relationship pattern, developing healthier ways of coping, or becoming more intentional about the choices you make. My goal is for you to leave therapy with more than insight: a clearer understanding of yourself, practical ways of responding differently, greater flexibility and confidence, and a stronger sense that you have choices in how you approach relationships, challenges, and everyday life.