I am a clinical social worker (LICSW) located in Massachusetts, and hold an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work. I hope to support clients in exploring their working models of relationships, improving communication and interpersonal effectiveness, increasing feelings of self-esteem and self-efficacy, building skills to cope with distress and dysregulation, and recovering from experiences of trauma and invalidation.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
The first session is the beginning of our work to build a strong therapeutic alliance, so that we can work together in the way that best meets the client's needs and preferences. This can include exploring clients' goals and hopes for their treatment, current presenting problems, family and relationship history, previous treatment experiences, strengths, and values.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
It's important to me to be someone my clients can trust to be honest, validating, and interested in understanding them better. I make an effort to hold a non-judgmental stance, and to use phenomenological empathy to find a non-perjorative way of understanding clients' distress and struggles. I value integrity, creativity, and compassion in my clinical work.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I enjoy working with clients who are interested in knowing themselves better, improving their relationships, exploring and clarifying their values, and finding more effective ways to respond to stress and invalidation. I particularly enjoy working with young adults, and with clients who identify as neurodivergent, autistic, or on the autism spectrum.
About Mara Penatzer
Identifies as
Serves ages
Licensed in
Accepts cash
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Psychodynamic
The therapeutic relationship can be a powerful tool in understanding and strengthening other relationships outside of therapy, and in exploring and challenging our working models of relationships. My work is informed and enriched by psychodynamic relational theory, and I aim to support clients in using the therapeutic relationship to bring unconscious relational patterns and dynamics to light, and provide reparative relational experiences (including validation and relational safety) that clients can internalize and bring to their other relationships.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I use dialectical philosophy and validation to support clients in moving out of stuck or polarized positions, recover from invalidating environments, find a middle path, and build a life worth living. This can include building mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills, and exploring ways to be more effective in responding to painful or challenging situations.
Motivational Interviewing
I use Motivational Interviewing to support clients in clarifying what values are most important to them, enhance intrinsic motivation to take steps toward goals, and increase feelings of self-efficacy.