FAQs
The first step is always the hardest to take, and every client I have been honored to help took that leap of faith with a lot of courage at some point in time. Once they feel ready to do the work, I strive to make sure my clients feel they are heard and feel safe enough to start this journey of change.
The difference is between someone who can do something and someone who has the training and experience to do that same thing professionally. A mental health professional can help you approach your situation in a new way– teach you new skills, gain different perspectives, listen to you without judgment or expectations, and help you listen to yourself. Furthermore, therapy is completely confidential. You won’t have to worry about others “knowing my business.” Lastly, if your situation provokes a great deal of negative emotion if you’ve been confiding in a friend or family member, there is the risk that once you are feeling better, you could start avoiding that person so you aren’t reminded of this difficult time in your life.
When all the coping patterns you have used successfully in your life no longer seem to work or work less optimally than they used to, you might feel stuck and frustrated. Friends and family can help, but not every situation feels like it can be shared or solved by someone intimately associated with your life. A therapist can provide a safe space to discuss uncomfortable topics and an unbiased perspective to kickstart a new approach to problem-solving.
Therapeutic alliances are built on trust and the ability to safely express one’s thoughts without feeling judged. I encourage you to have an initial 20-minute phone consultation with me. If it feels appropriate to proceed, make an appointment to see me, and you can decide the next steps after that.
The therapy hour is a place for you to talk uninterrupted and be heard. You can learn specific skills to cope with depression or anxiety, for example, or to break unhealthy coping patterns. Therapy can help you get clarity on situations that make you feel unsettled and make sense of your own experience.
This can vary considerably. If your distress is situational (e.g., unexpected loss of a loved one or a job), you will probably be in therapy for a shorter time than someone who is carrying a lifetime of hurt and pain. Being in therapy can bring periods of great progress followed by plateaus, and smaller gains, and you and the therapist can collaboratively decide when it is time to end therapy.
Yes. I encourage you to have at least one meeting in my office first as a foundation to build a therapeutic relationship. Future sessions for online therapy can be set up on our HIPAA-compliant, secure platform.
Yes. I am fluent in Bengali and Hindi.
A “therapeutic hour” is 50 minutes long.