Buddhist Therapists in Penllyn, PA

To help others, I believe that three traits are essential: competence, caring, and integrity. I continuously hone my competence by updating my skills and keeping up with developments in my field. In addition, I put a strong emphasis on personal growth and cultivating my relationships with others, believing that by living a full and meaningful life, I have more to offer my clients. I care deeply about my clients, admire their strengths, cheer their victories, and resonate with their disappointments. In terms of integrity, I commit to an approach that is kind, straight-forward,and respectful.

I am committed to helping people create and sustain a satisfying, purposeful life. With the intention of moving toward a greater sense of overall well-being, I enjoy working with clients around life transitions, career and identity exploration, navigating and managing complex life circumstances and stresses (particularly related to marginalized identities), and concerns related to career/work. With 25 years of experience as a therapist, I offer an active, collaborative working relationship grounded in respect, transparency, and a deep desire to help clients heal and grow.

Inner Compass Counseling provides a safe container for those who desire self-discovery and an enhanced sense of intuition (connection with inner self). The aim is to provide a variety of empowering explorations and reflections as each person travels their individual path toward wholeness and authenticity. Through conscious exploration that includes the four bodies: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, we can explore ways to move through life deeply aligned with our own sense of purpose and find our True North.

I am fortunate to work with individuals facing the challenges which arise in life's unpredictable way...separation, divorce, loss, relationship conflicts, parenting issues and substance use. Guiding and uncovering with them, their insight and motivation to resolve and heal from these uninvited events. I have developed special expertise in addressing the turbulence of addiction, trauma recovery and healing. As well as skills in meditation and mindfulness.

True, enduring healing is transformative. It restores self-confidence and wholeness diminished by life stressors such as challenging relationships, loss, systemic oppression, abuse, and trauma, self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and ineffective coping patterns. I am deeply dedicated to creating the compassionate, understanding and trusting space essential for you to heal, thrive, and (re)learn to trust your own wisdom. Together we can discover your most grounded, authentic and healthy self, enhance insight, and align your life with your goals, values, and dreams. You deserve exceptional care, patience, understanding, and peace.

Change can be overwhelming, but your grief journey doesn’t have to be. If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, chances are you’ve been struggling more than others realize. You're getting through the day, but feeling drained and unable to enjoy the things that used to bring you joy. Yet despite your best efforts to put your grief behind you, you’re still feeling lonely and misunderstood, guilty or even resentful that it’s taking so long to feel like yourself again. The good news? You don’t have to walk this path alone.

I enjoy helping clients who want to explore themselves and work towards being more accepting and confident in who they truly are. If you want to gain a broader perspective in how you are approaching your relationships, both personal and professional, I'd love to help you. Growth and change are challenging, and can also be fun and exciting. In our work we'll practice being more aware of what is really there for you in the area(s) you're working on. It might be that devloping a new skillset in your relationship will help it grow, or that you need help ending a relationship and starting a new one.

I believe that we all have an instinct toward growth and healing, and my experience with clients continues to affirm that with good support, everyone has the innate capacity to change. I trust and respect clients by bringing my genuine curiosity, deep sense of acceptance, and keen intuition to what they share with me. Troubling events and traumas happen to all of us, but as we explore old beliefs and process through difficult emotions, it is possible to alter those ingrained habits that prevent growth, and move into a more free experience of yourself. I have an open, relaxed, interactive style based on a holistic perspective.

The fact that you’re reading this means that you're ready to feel better. It takes courage to reach out to a therapist and means that you have hope that things can be better. Hope is what fuels the work of therapy and together we can help you to manage anxiety, depression and stress so that you can live your happiest life. Therapy is such a rewarding process and I know firsthand that it works and that YOU are so worth it. Being a therapist is my calling, my passion and my purpose and it would be my honor to travel with you on your journey to your Apogee, to your highest self, your journey to YOU!

Do you find yourself exhausted by the overthinking of your decisions and interactions? Feeling unheard or misunderstood by your partner(s), family, or colleagues? Are you tired of feeling stuck? Having a sense of inner peace and feeling connected within your relationships is possible. It can be challenging to believe that in our society which often asks more of us than we are able to give. I want to help you to find the best tools for you to find the confidence to identify and communicate your own needs, limits, and desires to be your authentic self in your life and relationships.

My work as a clinician is grounded in establishing a safe, supportive, and nurturing co-created environment. We all struggle at times and sometimes having help is necessary to find calm, balance, or growth. Each client brings their own unique strengths and challenges. Together we develop a plan to help you move toward your goals. My counseling is informed by my work with students with special needs, families in transition, my training in yoga and mindfulness, and my work with men and women who experienced domestic violence. I use a trauma informed, person-centered approach in which clients feel safe, heard, and valued.

Have you ever felt, "Why is this happening to me, I don't know who I am anymore!" Constant worrying, low mood, relational challenges, and life transitions can wear you down. Simultaneously, navigating multiple cultural contexts can challenge your values and world views, often creating dissonance about who you are. Within the mindful space of therapy, I can help you examine the nature of your worries, the frequent blues, your existing thinking style, responses to people and the world around you. Through collaboration, I can offer alternative ways of thinking and responding to challenges, and help develop an effective coping toolkit.

Practice limited to people in their 20s and 30s. Risa Mandell is a licensed clinical social work psychotherapist in Pennsylvania. The psychotherapeutic journey loosens unwanted, ossified internal and interpersonal patterns, resulting in a strengthened capacity for psychological and behavioral choice as well as transforming recalcitrant wounds into compassion for yourself and others. Risa listens to you to facilitate the evolution of your relationship to your mind; that is, your thoughts, feelings, body, people & pets in your life, to the biosphere and to how you show up in the world.

Are you experiencing anxiety, depression, feeling overwhelmed or lost? Maybe you feel unfulfilled in your relationships, career, or other key areas of your life. If you are ready to explore these parts of yourself and interrupt patterns that are no longer serving you, I can help with that. Psychotherapy is a collaborative process which allows us to look at the areas that are causing distress, and identify ways to adjust your thoughts and behaviors to create positive change. I provide therapy in a safe, nonjudgmental environment where you can feel comfortable expressing yourself openly and authentically.

Choosing to begin psychotherapy can start with a feeling that there is more for you to discover, a greater balance to achieve, or a challenge to work through. In the safe accepting space of therapy, a healing process can evolve at a pace that is supportive and comfortable for you. I encourage people to approach their inner work with gentleness, perseverance, courage and compassion. I offer psychodynamic, mindful, cognitive and trauma-informed care to individuals, pairs and groups, including independent teens (only). I value and practice a thoughtful, culturally aware, and collaborative approach to our work.

Are you increasingly anxious, thinking about the past and worried about the future while unable to focus on today? Our sessions can offer you the hope and time you need to gain perspective. I have extensive experience working with young adults, college students & couples in inpatient, and outpatient settings struggling with traumatic events in their lives, stress, adjustment and challenges that require more resilience, relationship issues, depression and anxiety. Sometimes unhelpful addictions were our way of coping and we need support to redirect. I am here for you and ready to help.

Take a moment and visualize your life as a garden, influenced by various individuals and experiences that have shaped its landscape. You may notice aspects of your garden that no longer align with your desires—a tangle of vines choking your flowers or plants that no longer serve you. Maybe you have yearning to create a garden that truly reflects who you are and are unsure of what you want to grow. Some sections of your garden are thriving and others aren't. Whether there is that type of knowing or its processing an adverse event(s), you have an awareness that your "garden" isn't as full as you want it to be.

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. It takes courage to acknowledge and seek out solutions to overcome the current obstacles in your path. These are difficult times and there is absolutely no reason for you to bear this pain on your own.

Have you ever found yourself wondering: why does this keep happening? Perhaps your relationships all tend to end the same or your friendships never seem as close as you thought they were. Or no matter what you do you can't seem to shake this feeling of worry or sadness. I am dedicated to helping you in understanding your depression, anxiety, adult ADHD, relationship distress/sexual difficulties, gender identity issues, & parent-child relationships (just to name a few) and assisting you in making the changes to improve.