Grief Therapists in Fort Totten-Upper Northeast, Washington, DC

In my practice, I provide individual therapy to adult survivors of trauma, grief and loss, including those navigating relationship loss, and general life adjustments. I stay curious with people who want to plant reparative seeds and explore what healing stories can grow from their hardships. I support those who want to re-author a life-story that centers new meaning-making, radical self-care, deliberate joy, and improved quality of life. While I specialize in the unique cultural experiences of Black women and women of color, my commitment to therapeutic care and wellness extends to all women, LGBTQ+ communities, and allies.

I am a Masters-level counselor-in-training through Northwestern University currently offering counseling services at The Imago Center of Washington, DC. I am accepting clients with sliding scale pricing/low fee. Together, we can work on areas such as life transitions, grief and loss, self-esteem regulation, sexuality, anxiety, and depression. Using an integrative approach, I hope to work with young adults and couples in exploring areas such as sexual orientation, healthy relationship development, and positive sexuality as well as anxiety regulation and adjustment strategies.

Welcome! My job is to use my knowledge and skills to enhance what's already working for you. Areas of focus: Work stress, worries, sleep issues, health challenges, grief and loss, parenting support, guilt and shame, career and life transitions. My work emphasizes mind/body awareness to create health and healing. I've worked with clients who are completely new to therapy and those who have tried working with different therapists. My intention is to help you heal and rediscover your voice.

I will serve as a guide as you work through grief, anxiety, depression, difficult life transitions, and challenging relationships. In time, you will learn to turn toward the vulnerable, sad, angry, and fearful parts of yourself so you can feel grounded and calm, even in difficult situations. When working with couples, I take a balanced, non-judgmental approach to make space for each partner’s voice and perspective. Through our work, couples can reconnect, interrupt frustrating and ineffective communication patterns, process grief or infidelity, and learn to turn toward one another with empathy and curiosity.

I work with adults experiencing a wide range of issues, from anxiety, depression and trauma to relationship issues, personal identity, and life transitions or grief. Therapy can help you get unstuck in any of these areas, support you in creating your own life story, and assist you in feeling better and more in control.

You’re successful at work, an active community member, and the first person your friends call in a crisis. But inside, there’s a part of you that’s not getting what she needs. You know you ‘should’ value solitude and self-care, but it’s hard to be alone. Whenever there’s a pause in your busy life, you notice a gnawing sense of emptiness. Pain over past relationships is taking up a lot of your mental real estate. You wonder: Am I choosing the wrong people? Or am I pushing the ‘right’ people away? You long to be part of a close-knit tribe — but sometimes it feels like you need your friends more than they need you.

If life's challenges have become overwhelming, I would love to help you lean in to your innate capacity for healing. As an Internal Family Systems trained practitioner, I will help you foster curiosity for all the parts of yourself in a nonjudgmental, supportive way. I will help you understand your protective mechanisms and dig deeper to release burdens of belief and help you heal old wounds. I strive to maintain an anti-oppressive practice, which often begins with acknowledging our shared and differing relationships to power and privilege. If this approach is what you've been looking for, schedule a consultation today!

My ideal client(s) are those struggling with both trauma and relationships. Trauma can deeply impact how we relate to others, whether it be experiences from childhood that have persisted in creating struggles over the life course, or impactful instances in adulthood a person still struggles with. I am especially interested in people who struggle with attachment issues in relationships. The ideal client is one who is receptive to change, can take ownership of their life, and has the capacity for self-reflection. They would be interested in creating a more fulfilling life for them, based on the meanings the create in their own lives.

I welcome anyone into my practice who is interested in making sustainable life changes, Here & NOW. I've been lucky to work with a diverse client population in a variety of clinical settings and specialities including private practice, children & families, adolescents, young adults, healthcare, rural and urban, inpatient and outpatient, dual diagnoses, LGBTQIA, and community mental health across three states and the District of Columbia. All of my experiences have deepened my understanding of the regional, socioeconomic, cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity where I live. Change is possible for everyone. I can help.

Thank you for reaching out for assistance. I am Lewis Smith, a licensed therapist in the District of Columbia. I have been working for over 20 years with individuals, couples, and families to resolve a myriad of problems. With your permission, I look forward to working with you!

Life can present with challenging situations that can cause you to stop growing. These disruptions can sometimes cause you to become stagnant or make you feel like continuing is impossible. These situations can be caused by internal or external triggers. Resulting in conflict with family, relationships, career or your peace of mind. It could impact how you feel about yourself, the world, and communicate with your partner or cope with life. Regardless of the issue, we would be glad to speak with you. Together we will identify and create the best patterns and coping methods that help you fully blossom into you ideal self.

I believe that the foundation of therapy starts with a trusting relationship characterized by honesty, warmth, and empathy. Once this foundation is established, we will work together to confront personal challenges, explore your strengths, and set therapeutic goals. I will use a variety of techniques tailored to your specific needs in order to guide our sessions. My hope is that our work together will leave you feeling a greater sense of empowerment and self-compassion and provide you with a useful set of tools that you can implement outside of the therapeutic setting.

I get it! I completely understand the many demanding roles we have in life and all the complexities in between. Balancing our many different roles can be a daily challenge. As a seasoned therapist, I have had the pleasure of assisting people from all walks of life with discerning and developing their overall life's direction in ways that provide lasting fulfillment. My services have assisted individuals and couples with identifying personalized methods of expression. No matter where we perceive our deceits to be, it's ultimately up to us to repair ourselves and graciously move towards a path of healing.

What really matters to you? Have you "checked out" in life only able to operate the day to day routine? Wonder what feeling awake is like? Let's explore what's challenging you, causing you depression/anxiety, and feelings of disconnection from self and others together. In my relational approach I offer you a safe and deeply attuned environment to share your story, struggle with unwanted feelings/emotions as they arise, deepen your self-awareness and curiosity -To Awaken.

Welcome! I'm so glad you're here. I am passionate about supporting individuals, couples and people in all types of relationships on their personal and relational journeys, as they explore themselves and their experiences, gain insight into patterns and dynamics, and ultimately, as they connect to what is meaningful in their lives. I approach my clients with genuineness, creativity, and a sense of collaboration, and I believe it is a privilege to sit with people and hold their stories.

Welcome! I am currently accepting new clients to connect with. I provide trauma informed care while utilizing self empowerment techniques and strengths perspective. I may also use a person – centered approach or solution- focused approach, to unlock your hidden treasures. Through building coping skills, exploring unhelpful thinking patterns, and setting healthy boundaries, we will work towards you becoming a better version of yourself.

For many years, I’ve had the privilege of working with persons looking to make sense of life’s most difficult challenges. Within my virtual private practice, Be Opened Now, PLLC, I specialize in providing holistic, trauma-informed support in response to all forms of trauma, creating safer healing spaces for those wanting to understand the impact of such difficult experiences. This often includes, but is not at all limited to, the impact on one’s overall wellness, emotional and mental health management, identity development, self-care strategies, interpersonal connection and so much more.

Life is unavoidably full of transitions, stressors, disappointments, and losses that create blocks to the life you want to lead. I provide a break from the busyness, to explore where you are and where you want to go. That path to change may include new ways of relating to relationships, work demands, past trauma or other external factors. Additionally, growth may be shifts in internal dialogues that lead to challenges, like anxiety and depression. Whatever your goals, my role is to hold a compassionate space to be curious about your needs, to connect your past to your present, and to find a way forward towards the change you desire.

I've been working with stressed out, overworked, anxious and depressed Washingtonians for over 30 years and call me crazy but I still love the work. It's such a privilege to work with an amazing diversity of smart interesting people! While I have been trained in a variety of different therapeutic modalities I've learned the most from my clients. About half of my caseload is working with couples primarily using the Imago relationship therapy approach. The rest of my client load is working with individual adults and relationship groups for men. Men really flourish in these relationship groups.