Couples Counseling Therapists in Cambridge, MA

We're more anxious right now than ever, trying to navigate everything that is happening in our lives and our world. It's easy to get out of balance, especially during this difficult time. It's hard to navigate our own lives and now we have other worries, many that feel beyond our control. Drawing on my experience and training in existential philosophy and contemporary psychodynamic therapy...a compassionate rigorous insistence on taking responsibility for oneself, we’ll try to make sense of all this, navigating habits and patterns you keep falling back on; finding connections to the things you feel are most important in your life.

A deep and enduring intimacy is one of life's greatest treasures. Richard Borofsky is a couples therapist whose special gift is to help couples learn how to consciously enter into the experience of being present in a way that makes it possible for them to reconnect, to open their hearts and to transform hurts, resentments and mistrust into a deeper, more compassionate and lasting connection. Along with his wife Antra Borofsky, his partner for 50 years, he also offers retreats and workshops for couples called, "Being Together: The Art of Loving."

Sometimes we notice that a problem or feeling of distress is not actually new, but one we have carried for a long time. Alternatively, stressful circumstances can suddenly challenge our usual and effective ways of coping requiring us to change. Psychotherapy offers an ideal context for modifying patterns of experience or feelings of being stuck that occur within our relationships, work, and internal worlds. This creative process contains elements of surprise that evolve over the course of the treatment, yet the work is also a demanding rigorous endeavor.

Active in approach, transparent in nature and collaborative in style, my practice will validate all it has taken for you to arrive at my door. Then begins the process of crafting a clear pathway towards a different experience of self. Supporting individuals and families in acquiring and sustaining the real skills necessary for positive behavioral change is what I do best, be it in my Cambridge office or in the front room of your home.

It can be rather disheartening to expend considerable energy trying to change something and be left with a similar outcome. It is not easy to lead a fulfilling life while being caught in patterns outside of awareness. Psychotherapy gives the opportunity to look inward and ask how a fleeting thought, a dream, or a subtle change may be related to ongoing difficulties. Taking a closer look at something while also being curious during that exploration can open up a greater understanding and lead to meaningful changes.

With all the obstacles life presents it is often easy to feel stuck. Unfortunately, the process of getting "unstuck" is not always as simple. That's when additional support is needed. With a genuine, empathic and down to earth style of therapy we can work towards your goals of feeling happier, healthier and more empowered. Together we will explore patterns and choices that contribute to your accomplishments and struggles. We will work towards self-awareness while remaining solution-focused, and will use the strengths you already possess to build more skills for managing the challenges that life brings.

I have been practicing psychotherapy for 40 years. I believe that psychotherapy can heal pain and help people to live more fulfilling lives through a collaborative working relationship between therapist and client/patient. I have worked with clients with a wide range of issues including but not limited to depression, anxiety, repeated problematic relationship patterns, grief, a history of or current trauma, aging, and identity development.

Victoria Johnson is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over 30 years of behavioral health and substance use experience across various domains/modalities in both the private and public sectors. Victoria has dedicated her career to treatment for all stages of recovery, treating women, supporting lesbian and gay individuals/ couples and their families, and enhancing personal and professional relationships by fostering all truth in all communication. Victoria has provided counseling, education, and treatment in collegiate settings, inpatient and outpatient programs, and community settings.

Congratulations on taking this courageous step. I truly see therapy as an investment in yourself that can lead to self-awareness, growth, and healing. I fundamentally practice from a trauma informed lens as I have seen the many ways that traumatic experiences in relationships, families, our community, and in society can leave people feeling unsafe, alone, and broken. These ruptures often lead to anxiety, depression, panic, sleep disturbances, and relationship issues. But just as trauma often occurs in relationships, so can healing, which is why I value building safe, trusting relationships with my clients.

"My practice is currently full; please email me if you would like to be on my wait-list." It is common to find oneself, at some point, caught up in behaviors or beliefs that create suffering and seem impossible to change. This is what we often experience as feeling trapped...mired in bad relationship dynamics or in work that no longer gives back what we need. And it is these kinds of feelings that push people to consider therapy, hoping but not being sure that it will help.

Dr. Nathan’s primary areas of interest include: life transitions, men’s issues, trauma, depression, anxiety, and academic issues. Dr. Nathan uses an integrative approach, harnessing elements of Emotion Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and CBT to best meet the individual needs of the client. He has previously worked in college counseling, and remains committed to helping students navigate the complex interplay of life and learning. Outside his therapy office, Dr. Nathan likes being outdoors, playing soccer, and hiking and camping in the summer, and snowboarding or learning to cross-country ski in the winter.

Therapy is often sought out in times of despair, grief, desolation and heartache. I have a client-centered approach that allows my clients to not feel alone and to help in moving past these terribly isolating feelings. I find it is very important to be present and ‘in the moment’ with my clients so that they don’t need to face life’s hardest challenges without someone by their side. I encourage my clients to be very transparent, and tell me exactly what they need from me, and I will do what it takes to get what they need or will find the person who can.

Dr. Kaivani works with adults, and her areas of interest include: Anxiety, depression, interpersonal challenges, trauma, difficult life transitions, acculturation/adjustment to immigration, creativity blocks, and issues of meaning and personal identity, especially around gender and sexuality. She believes in a therapeutic pluralism in which individually tailored treatments are drawn from several different therapy approaches. She primarily utilizes psychodynamic and existential perspectives with a trauma-informed and relational framework. Dr. Kaivani immigrated from Iran in 2010 and provides therapy in Farsi in addition to English.

In my 40 plus years as a psychotherapist, I've heard many times: "I want to be happy, to feel peaceful inside myself, but I can't seem to get there" or "I feel badly telling my friends and family. I worry they get tired of listening to me." There are many reasons people feel stuck in their anxiety, depression, or relationship problems, and feel immobilized by them. Understanding what is causing problems can help you feel less stuck and immobilized, more at peace, and more self-confident.

Judy Hu is a Counselor turned Boundary Coach. Rather than learn coping skills to manage symptoms like anxiety and depression, Judy gets to the root of your issue. Using her Psychological Boundary Framework, clients will learn who they really are, how they’ve needed to adapt in order to survive/function, and how to claim space within a new worldview that is grounded in equality, non-violence, freedom, social responsibility, and interdependence.