Oppositional Defiance (ODD) Therapists in Somerville, MA

I am currently accepting new clients! Do you often find yourself feeling sad or anxious? Do you worry about yourself or your child? Do you wish you could be your best self? With over fifteen years of clinical experience, my style is fluid and catered to best suit the concerns and experience of my clients. I have worked with clients of all ages in the context of individual, couples, and family therapy. I offer a goal-oriented and strength-based approach and incorporate CBT, ACT, art/narrative therapy, interpersonal therapy, solution-focused therapy, and play therapy depending on needs and preferences of each client.

Welcome to Somerville Counseling! I’m Erik Gans, a therapist and licensed clinical social worker with over 15 years of experience in the mental health field. I specialize in working with teenagers and adults facing challenges related to trauma, phobias, depression, and anxiety. Trained in EMDR, I can help you take a very structured approach to addressing past hurts, and implementing new coping skills. Although your experience is deeply personal, you don’t have to manage it alone.

I look forward to understanding your goals and values and offering the best scientific and humanistic practice to help you reach your desired outcomes. I have helped children, adolescents, transition-age youth and adults address traumatic experiences, loss, anxiety, depression, adjustment to psychiatric disability, and other stressful life transitions.

People are often exposed to stressors and or traumatic events that at times can unravel emotions that seem to consume us. During these times it seems hard to find the light at the end of the tunnel. My passion is to help people find this light, to help heal from their past trauma and move forward. I assist my clients; school aged children and young adults in finding and changing their negative distortions and identifying their strengths in order to help achieve a peaceful, happy and whole perception of themselves.

My ideal client is a young adult who is working on getting their life together. They are having a difficult time controlling their emotions and suffers with anxiety. Their goals are to get and keep a job, work on a career, and be more responsible. They are realizing that it is time to get it together. They are interested in learning coping skills and working on past traumatic events that they believe to be in the way of learning new ways. I will work with my clients to unfold what is brought into the room and set the pace that feels most supportive to them—together, creating a safe and supportive space as we address needs and goals.

My ideal client would be anyone genuinely looking for a change and seeking help.

My ideal client is someone who is willing to work with me in order to achieve their goal. This includes being able to have back and forth conversation around ways to achieve that goal, as well as have the more difficult conversations when it comes to road blocks and the occasional self sabotaging behavior. I will always be honest in my assessments, and thoughts, and my hope would be that my client is as well.

I was trained as a clinical social worker, and have advanced, post-graduate training in psychoanalysis and group therapy. I enjoy working with a wide range of clients, whether that be an individual's social identity and age, or the issues and struggles that one is working on in their life.

My therapeutic approach is warm, open and collaborative. I generally practice using a psychodynamic approach, but I also integrate cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness techniques. I am flexible and tailor my method to suit the needs of each client. My work is informed by my clinical experience and the latest in evidence based research.

I believe therapy is an opportunity to heal, grow, explore and create change. If you are looking for extra support or guidance through a challenging situation and ready to move to a new direction. My style is interactive,utilizing the client's strengths, as we work together towards achieving your goals.

Feeling nervous or stressed is natural. When these feelings overwhelm us, we need someone to listen, to validate our concerns, and to help us get to the root of our problems with tools that will inspire hope, and help us regain control of our lives. I use Mindfulness Practices to help people sit with, and tolerate what comes up. I use Self-Compassion Practices to help soothe what ails you, and I often use CBT to organize our plan going forward. This gives you tools that you can use immediately, and strikes a fine balance between listening and responding.

I work with children, adolescents, and adults to resolve challenges related to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, relationships, and school/work adjustment. I offer a collaborative, empathic environment and an integrated approach that combines aspects of cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness, relational, and psychodynamic theories to help you and/or your child understand and change nonproductive thoughts and behaviors, expand emotional awareness, improve relationships, build self-confidence, and face the obstacles that are getting in the way of reaching life goals.

Accepting New Clients! - Seeking therapy or finding a new therapist can sometimes be both intimidating and stressful. Once the right match is made, however, the therapeutic relationship almost always matures into an integral and rewarding aspect of my clients' routines and lives. I strive to engage my clients in a collaborative partnership as they process feelings, explore solutions and improve relationships. My eclectic and person-centered approach ensures that you continue to be the experts of your own lives, while providing a supportive, empathic and non-judgmental space for you to change or cope with life's various challenges.

I have worked with people who have anxiety, depression, trauma, obsessions, compulsions, phobias, and panic. People come to me to work on relationships in order to resolve conflicts that are having a negative impact on them. These relationships may be significant others, spouse, child, parent, roommate, or co-worker.

I believe the therapeutic relationship is at the core of all treatment provided as the path to health begins here. Your growth and healing will require energy, commitment, and active participation from you, the client. I work with clients to establish a therapeutic relationship that is honest, straightforward, therapeutically challenging and inspiring, and compassionate. With my support, you will come to deeply understand your personal strengths, compassionately tend to your emotional wounds and learn evidence-based techniques to move toward health.

As a clinical psychologist, my goal is to support you, wherever you may be in your life. My individual work with adults has focused on finding meaning and balance, while supporting mental health needs. I work with children to address social and mental health issues, and I also attend to the child-caregiver connection.

Unfortunately, I am not accepting new clients at this time. It takes a lot of courage and commitment to look for a therapist for your family or your child, so first of all, it is wonderful you have gotten this far. The families and children I see are resilient and wanting things to improve, which means different things to each of them, and I'm here to help figure out how to do that. I aim to do the same with you, to work collaboratively with you and your child/family to find out what would really work at home and in your everyday lives.

Thanks for stopping by. I am a bilingual developmental psychologist, a clinical social worker and an avid yogi for nearly twenty years. I hold a BC in psychology from Venezuela, a master degrees in Early Intervention from Northeastern University and a masters in Clinical Social Work from Simmons University. I have worked with children and adults with mental health and developmental challenges in a variety of setting and bring my expertise in the field as well as my deep compassion. I truly love helping others in any capacity. I pull from many different frameworks including EMDR, CBT, DBT, IFS, ACT and mindfulness.

Omega Therapy Practice is a full service counseling service offering several approaches to meeting the needs of a diverse and inclusive clientele including first generation immigrants, professionals of color, the LBGTQ+ community and fellow residents of Massachusetts. As a licensed mental health counselor who is bicultural and bilingual, fluent in Haitian-Creole and semi-fluent in French, I am uniquely qualified to help adolescents, adults and families from various ethic & cultural backgrounds.