Rachel Dvoskin, PhD, LCPC

I'm a relational psychotherapist helping adults and couples move through anxiety, grief, trauma, relationship struggles, and life transitions. I blend psychodynamic talk therapy with experiential and parts work — IFS, inner child, sandtray, shadow work — to support and guide you toward stronger connections, more joy and meaning, and real growth.

Do you want to experience life and relationships differently — to feel more valued, understood, present, alive? Are you really good at problem-solving and intellectualizing and less comfortable identifying, expressing, and sitting with your feelings (because no one really teaches us how)? Do you lose yourself in relationships because you’re trying to make someone (or everyone) else happy? Do you feel alone in your grief, anger, worry, or self-doubt even when you’re surrounded by people you’re close to? Have you found yourself wondering if this is the best it’s going to be, what's next, or who you are beyond your work or your role as a partner or parent?

How do you want to live the rest of the one life you have? I help people answer this question and support them through real change. Having the courage to ask for help — to let others see us in all our messiness — is how we come to experience true healing, growth, and connection. Sharing our story in a safe space makes it easier to accept its painful parts and to find freedom in letting go of the beliefs and habits that no longer serve us.

I do deep work with individual and couples. I work especially well with adults in their middle years who want to understand themselves better, express their feelings and needs, take risks, and live more courageously. What you may fear is a "midlife crisis" is really a midlife enlightening: an invitation to show up strongly for yourself and bolster your life and your relationships with a more authentic and meaningful foundation.

I have worked with many couples who have tried therapy in the past and have left feeling frustrated, confused, or even more hopeless. I won't just observe or lecture or give you homework; I will listen and learn from you, primarily. Then I will help you to understand the unhelpful patterns and dynamics that you (along with so many couples) have fallen into; when and why you learned these ways of coping (which undoubtedly kept you safe at one time); and how they are increasing the distance between you on a daily basis. I will help you create new safety and connection, even after devastating betrayals and loss of trust, or help you through the painful journey of deciding to part ways.

My psychodynamic and experiential approach is heavily informed by my expertise in mindfulness practice, parts work (IFS), and the neurobiology of attachment and stress. My work is warm and collaborative — and it's also honest and direct. With me, you will feel understood, safe, and validated, and you will also be challenged. (Otherwise, what's the point, right?) I won't tell you what to do, even when you ask me to — but I will help you find the answers that are already within you. You will laugh, you will pretty surely cry, you will heal, and you will grow. Importantly, you won't be doing any of it alone.

If you’ve read this far, you might still be wondering: But what can this chick offer that my chatbot can’t? Hey, I don’t blame you for asking. AI does a pretty good job! And I don’t discourage my clients from using it if they find it helpful. But what you miss out on with AI is the experience of being vulnerable with the people in your life, and learning that with the right people, you can tolerate your fear of judgment, AND you don't have to manage other people’s discomfort with what you might be sharing. Your nervous system learns and changes, and you get to feel truly seen and connected. That's what we're building toward.

I transitioned to therapy from academia. For my PhD in biological anthropology, I studied physiological, genetic, and behavioral roots of personality and stress reactivity — so I bring a deep, science-based understanding of early life adversity/trauma and why our bodies and nervous systems react the way they do. My training includes meditation and mindfulness, IFS (Internal Family Systems), EFT (Emotion-Focused Therapy), RLT (Relational Life Therapy), narrative sandtray therapy, and other trauma-informed modalities, as well as work with incarcerated men, which helped inform how I sit with people in their hardest, most shame-filled and guarded places.

I am honored to be trusted with each client's unique story. In our work together, I'll bring my warmth, insight, life experience, directness, playfulness, and humor. I'll help you use the strengths you already have to find your way back to trusting yourself, and to discovering more joy and meaning in your life.

Reach out, and let’s see if we're a good fit!