AVIVA PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES
Our services
Transforming adversity into growth
Our team of licensed psychologists has received the highest level of training in the field and utilizes a variety of empirically supported treatments to deliver individual and group therapy, relationship and couples counseling, and family therapy to individuals age 18 and older. We explicitly welcome LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC, and other diverse populations.
Regardless of the service provided, we aim to create an environment of honesty, empathy, and collaboration to support you in achieving both self-acceptance and desired change to live a more connected and satisfying life.
We provide services that meet the needs of our diverse community, and our multi-specialty approach to therapy helps people navigate the broad spectrum of life hardships and transitions.
Anxiety is a common state and frequent experience for all humans. We have an inherent fight or flight response that is triggered whenever there is a perceived threat. From an evolutionary perspective, this is a positive, protective response; it's what keeps us safe. For some of us, however, the fight or flight response is overactive and triggered in everyday occurrences, even when there is no true threat to our safety. Over time, an overactive fight/flight response causes undue stress on one’s body and brain, which may lead to unwanted physiological and emotional symptoms, such as sleep disturbances, panic, tension headaches, reactivity, and chronic fatigue.
Anxiety disorders present in many ways, including: panic disorder, social anxiety, phobias, obsessive/compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are different than typical experiences of stress/nervousness in that they cause distress that interferes with daily life. For example, someone with social anxiety may become so frightened that they skip social events, struggle to make friends, and feel isolated and lonely much of the time.
At Aviva Psychology Services, our psychologists have specialized training to treat anxiety.
If you are interested in beginning treatment for an anxiety related issue, please request an appointment.
Work and work-satisfaction have a direct impact on mental health. Many people spend the majority of their waking hours working. Work provides us with necessary financial support and can provide a sense of meaning and value in our own lives and in the lives of others. Conversely, it can be draining, unsatisfying, and stressful.
Career counseling is a targeted, solution-focused approach that can help you to identify what is and what is not working in your current situation, and to make meaningful changes. At Aviva Psychology Services, we use a values-centered approach to help people better understand the connection between their work and life satisfaction, as well as make changes to improve work-life balance. We specialize in working with clients in the following areas:
Expectations for workers to do more with fewer resources and support are increasing. For many, the 40-hour work week is not enough time to perform effectively. Additionally, work is often linked to self-worth, leading to increased anxiety about positive performance and “perfect” work product/presentation. Over time, this pattern of overworking and overvaluing work in life can lead to burnout.
At Aviva Psychology Services, our psychologists have worked with many individuals who are trying to achieve a more satisfying balance between work and life outside of work (e.g., friendships, self-care, family, hobbies, etc.).
Working with people who have different styles and needs is challenging, and it’s an essential part of any management position. Effective leadership requires specific skills not often taught in the workplace. Often, the work skills that advanced you to where you are now are not sufficient to make you an effective leader. For this reason, many highly successful employees struggle with the leap to manager.
At Aviva Psychology Services, our psychologists have specialized training in interpersonal effectiveness skills as they apply to leadership and management needs. We have worked with many clients in the Financial District who are experiencing the hardship of a high demand job coupled with the stress of complex work dynamics and management.
Regardless of the industry you are in, it is likely that you will go through several jobs and/or career changes throughout your life. This experience can be both freeing and challenging. At Aviva Psychology Services, our psychologists have worked with many individuals who are struggling with the “what’s next?” in their career paths. Whether you are at the beginning of your career or have reached a milestone only to realize it’s not what you expected, we can help you to sort through both your career values and life values to determine what action steps you can take towards finding the role and career that you want in light of the larger landscape of your life.
Women have come a long way in the workplace. Currently, women comprise the majority of college graduates and are breaking glass ceilings in many industries. However, these advancements come with unique stress and women continue to experience marked work barriers. For example, they continue to make less than their male counterparts in equivalent positions and are disproportionately exposed to sexism and sexual harassment.
Additionally, if women chose to become mothers, the stress of managing the demands of motherhood combined with the pressure of professional advancement often leads to significant distress and hardship. Learning to navigate work-life balance, maintain self-protective boundaries, and sort through competing needs to inform effective decision-making can be hard. At Aviva Psychology Services, many of our psychologists have navigated this terrain in their careers and have worked with women in a variety of professions to achieve greater work-life satisfaction.
If you are struggling to find balance in your life or would like to learn more, please request an appointment.
Sadness and grief are inevitable in life. Depression, however, is a treatable condition, which is distinct from sadness marked by persistently low mood (often without a triggering event), pervasive loss of interest and energy, and difficulty engaging in daily life. Depression may manifest in irritability, chronic fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, loss of will to live, and difficulty concentrating. Depression impacts all aspects of life, including relationships, productivity, work, and leisure.
Our team at Aviva Psychology Services specializes in treating depression and related mood symptoms.
If you are experiencing depression, mood dysregulation, irritability, or reactivity and would like to learn more about our services, please request an appointment.
We specialize in the full continuum of perinatal care.
Our psychologists are trained to support individuals, aspiring or contemplative parents, current parents, and bereaved parents who are navigating the complex family planning and adjustment process. This includes infertility, pregnancy losses of all types (e.g., miscarriages, stillbirths, abortions, and medical terminations), and adjustment to parenthood.
Please know that you are not alone. We are here to help through any challenges, heartaches, fears or struggles that arise at any point throughout the complex family planning, decision making, and adjustment process.
The process of creating a family can be both heartening and devastating. At times, family planning does not go as expected, resulting in a loss of control that can feel terrifying, lonely, confusing, or traumatic. The family planning process and related losses often invoke complex feelings of guilt, anger, confusion, devastation, and hopelessness. It is essential to know that you are not alone, even if you feel alone.
At Aviva Psychology Services, our psychologists are trained to support individuals through grief and traumatic loss, coping with uncertainty, and complex decision-making related to family planning.
Becoming a parent can be one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences in life. For many, it is the single biggest life-shift regarding how they spend their time and live their values. Parenthood requires a significant shift in responsibilities, priorities, sleep, self-care routines, freedom, and time. Despite the immense joys and privileges of parenthood, this shift is often overwhelming or destabilizing.
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by these new demands while also learning your parenting style. For many, there can be additional challenges, like financial strain, marital tension, isolation, lack of support, or challenges with your mental health. Perinatal mental illness is a complication of pregnancy and the postpartum period, which may manifest in depression, anxiety, or mood dysregulation that negatively impacts your functioning, parenting, and relationships.
At Aviva Psychology Services, our psychologists have expertise in the transition to parenthood including pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum adjustment. We understand the distinct challenges that individuals face during each of these stages, and we support individuals and/or couples through this complex adjustment to promote mental health and stability for the whole family. Additionally, we frequently work with parents to support them in clarifying and using their values to balance the demands of parenting and home life, career, and self-care.
If you are interested setting up an appointment to discuss these issues further, please request an appointment.
Grief and loss are universal human experiences. In the broadest sense, any change results in loss, and grief is therefore central to life. Change and loss create significant emotional discomfort. For example, when you lose something or someone you care about (e.g., your health, a loved one, financial stability, your youth, a pet, a job, or a home), you are usually struck by profound sadness. At times, you may also feel alone, anxious, or depressed in response to loss, and you may notice urges and behaviors to avoid these feelings.
At Aviva Psychology Services, we believe that emotional freedom and health are directly related to one’s ability to effectively cope with grief and loss. Therefore, we aim to reduce avoidance of emotional discomfort associated with grief and to increase acceptance and tolerance of it. This process requires a unique set of skills that are learnable through therapy, including distress tolerance skills, acceptance skills, self-soothing skills, and skills to tolerate uncertainty. We specialize in supporting individuals to build these skills and to cope with both general and traumatic losses.
If you are interested in making an appointment to cope with loss, please request an appointment.
In general, humans are as healthy as their relationships. The greater intimacy, stability, connection, and satisfaction we have in our relationships, the greater the stability, vitality, and satisfaction we tend to have in our lives. At Aviva Psychology Services, we specialize in relational functioning and skill-building.
Couples and families often encounter stuck-points and hurtful relationship patterns that lead to feelings of defeat, hurt, and resentment. We are here to help restore trust, safety, and effective communication. Our clinicians are trained in a variety of relationship therapy modalities, and we explicitly welcome relational and sexual diversity and sexual outsiders. We help adult couples, relationships, and families (18 years and older) to understand and change hurtful patterns, build more effective communication skills, and repair trust, vitality, and safety in your relationships.
To make an appointment for couples or family therapy, please request an appointment.
We utilize a variety of empirically supported and identity affirming treatments to transform adversity into growth and values into action to promote greater vitality, life-satisfaction, and well-being for all.
ACT (pronounced “act”) is an evidence-based model of psychotherapy that is a branch of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It is similar to CBT in its structure, with an intentional focus on goals and treatment plans and the use of homework. However, ACT differs from traditional CBT in that it is more focused on mindfulness and aims to increase psychological flexibility. The goal of ACT is to work towards “acceptance” of what is outside of your control and to make a commitment to change things that are within your control in order to improve and enrich your life. ACT does this by helping you utilize mindfulness skills to lessen the impact of painful thoughts and feelings that are an inevitable part of life, clarify your values, and make conscious steps towards living out those values.
To achieve psychological flexibility and move towards valued living, ACT uses 6 core processes:
Present moment awarenesses is commonly known as mindfulness. It involves being aware of what is happening in the here-and-now, even when the present moment includes pain. The idea is to learn to show up fully to whatever is going on, in order to have a richer, fuller experience of life.
Defusion focuses on learning to untangle yourself from negative thinking patterns. Similar to CBT's cognitive restructuring, Defusion focuses on learning to become aware of your thoughts and associated feelings. Defusion is slightly different though, in that rather than challenging negative thinking, you learn to notice and relate to it differently. Over time, this changes your attachment to, perceived threat by, and believability of undesirable or unhelpful thoughts. Mindfulness skills are also intertwined with Defusion skills.
Acceptance involves making room for whatever reactions come up in response to a particular event or experience. Often, when we experience pain, we make it worse by rejecting or judging it (e.g., "I can't believe she did that to me" or "I can't believe this is happening again"). In ACT, Acceptance is about changing your relationship with your thoughts, feelings, and unpleasant emotions to reduce avoidant efforts and increase freedom to live in congruence with your values.
Humans have outstanding mental capabilities, which have allowed us to move to the top of the food chain despite our limited physical form. Humans have the ability to not only think complex thoughts, but also to think about our thoughts, actions, and feelings. Using this skillset, ACT teaches clients to learn to see themselves more flexibly in relationship to the greater context of their lives, and to challenge some of the "rules" about themselves that may be getting in the way of meaningful change.
Values help us to decide what matters in our lives and what we stand for. They can serve as a powerful and clarifying compass that guides us towards what is important and away from what is not. However, values-based living is not always what feels good, what is easiest, or what is calming. Research helps us to understand that in addition to helping individuals tolerate this healthy discomfort and reduce avoidance, values-based living also creates more vitality, freedom, and clarity in life.
As you would expect from the name, this is the action step. It involves digging deep and finding the motivation and commitment to do what is necessary to move in the direction of your values, even if it’s difficult and uncomfortable. Committed action leads to behavior change, goal accomplishment, and greater life satisfaction.
ACT is part of a new wave of mindfulness-based CBT therapies that has demonstrated effectiveness for many presenting concerns, including anxiety and depression. For more information on ACT, you can check out the ACBS website.
Several therapists at Aviva Psychology Services have expertise in ACT. We also aim to integrate a values-based orientation in all the services that we provide.
If you are interested in beginning ACT treatment at Aviva Psychology Services or in increasing values-based living, please request an appointment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In short, how we think about a given situation affects the way we feel and how we are likely to respond. When we are under psychological distress, our minds often rely on thoughts that are unrealistic, distorted, and unhelpful. This skewed interpretation can increase our distress and negatively impact the actions we take.
CBT is an active form of psychotherapy that focuses on increasing awareness of these skewed thoughts and the impact they have on your emotions and behaviors. At Aviva Psychology Services, our CBT trained therapists work actively with clients to target these maladaptive thinking patterns.
When working within a CBT model, you and your therapist will decide on therapeutic goals to work towards. To achieve those goals, you and your therapist will work to modify your way of thinking, improve your ability to cope, and minimize the impact of thoughts on emotions and behavior. Part of this process involves viewing such negative beliefs as hypotheses to be tested, rather than as ultimate truths. Both in session and outside of session, you will begin to "run experiments" to test these hypotheses. Like any good scientist, keeping track of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and the interaction between the three will be important data collection that you and your therapist can use to better understand you and make meaningful changes.
CBT is one of the most widely studied forms of psychotherapy and has been shown to be effective in the treatment of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, sleep disorders and psychotic disorders. In fact, CBT has been shown to have the same long-term benefits as medications for depression and has been shown to be more effective in relapse prevention.
If you would like to begin CBT treatment at Aviva Psychology Services, please request an appointment.
The Developmental Model by Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson is one of the primary models for relationship and/or couples therapy at Aviva Psychology Services. This approach aims to improve relational functioning by teaching and emphasizing healthy differentiation. “Differentiation” is the ability to know and separate oneself and one’s feelings/reactions from others’ feelings and reactions. Differentiation teaches us how to avoid personalizing, and how to accept and tolerate differences in others without avoiding, fighting, or collapsing in response to these differences. Well-differentiated individuals can hold onto themselves in the face of others’ strong emotions and in response to tension. They can express their concerns and needs directly and honestly, while creating space for and managing their discomfort when their partners/others do the same. They tend to lead with curiosity rather than reactivity, and to understand and effectively use the essential skill of empathy. In short, greater differentiation results in healthier attachments and greater intimacy, safety, and satisfaction in relationships.
Using the Developmental Model, we help partners and families (18 years and older) to:
The skill of differentiation supports secure attachment formation and healthier functioning in all relationships, including family, parenting, peer, and work/leadership contexts.
To make an appointment for relationship, couples, or family therapy at Aviva Psychology Services, please request an appointment.
Internal Family Systems Therapy
IFS is an evidence-based, strength-focused, model of psychotherapy. Based in self-compassion, it proposes that all human beings have, at their core, a Self, which is an often-untapped healing resource. In IFS, the Self is characterized by a natural sense of confidence, clarity, and calm. In addition to the Self, IFS believes that humans have many different “parts” of their personalities that may play extreme roles because of adverse experiences that occurred during development. As a result of these past experiences, many people lack access to the Self. Instead of feeling calm and confident when faced with stressful situations, they find themselves reacting from their parts, which may manifest as painful emotions and ineffective reactions.
In IFS therapy, your therapist will assist you to make authentic connections with your parts. By listening to them with openness and compassion, you will form a deep appreciation for their motivations and roles. This connection enables extreme parts to experience the healing power of Self. The goals of IFS therapy are:
To view a video of IFS founder, Dr. Richard Schwartz, describing the model, click here
If you are interested in beginning IFS treatment at Aviva Psychology Services, please request an appointment.
Psychodynamic therapy aims to increase clients’ self-awareness and understanding of the influence of their past on present behavior. Our team of psychologists is trained to help clients understand their past relationship patterns, traumas, and learned strategies for self-protection, the ways in which these methods of self-protection may interfere with healthy relationships and coping in the present, and strategies for developing healthier relational styles and skills that lead to an increased sense of connection, security, and feeling understood. Psychodynamic therapy has been shown to be effective to:
If you are interested in learning more about psychodynamic treatment at Aviva Psychology Services, please request an appointment.
Relational-cultural theory (RCT) is a strengths-based model of psychotherapy that proposes all humans are healthiest in connection. Everyone yearns for safe, meaningful, and growth-fostering relationships, and we are hardwired to seek such connection with others. In contrast, human suffering can be understood as stemming from disconnection and isolation. RCT maintains that healing, therefore, comes from understanding what gets in the way of having meaningful connection with others and ourselves, and making an effort to nurture greater healthy connection. In therapy, this exploration can take many forms. Common themes include examining how society, systems, power dynamics, and culture impact how you seek connection, how others' expectations impact how you seek connection, and how your unique history of relationships impacts how you seek connection. Further, RCT increases awareness regarding the ways in which power-privilege dynamics, both at the micro (personal) and macro (societal) level, impact ones development and lived experience. The therapeutic relationship is very important with a large focus on creating a sense of safety and an egalitarian relationship by moving away from traditional power dynamics and the notion of therapist as “expert” while openly acknowledging and trying to minimize power differentials throughout the therapeutic process.
Ultimately the goal is for you to have healthier and more satisfying interpersonal connections. RCT defines these as “mutually growth-fostering relationships," which are built on mutual empathy, acceptance and authenticity, and that empower both people in the relationship. Authentic and safe connection, including that which is co-created in the therapeutic relationship, will improve your overall well-being, and increase the "five good things" -- greater zest, worth, creativity, clarity in perceptions of yourself and of others, and finally desire for more connection.
If you are interested in learning more about therapy using Relational-Cultural Theory at Aviva Psychology Services, please request an appointment.
