Katsiaryna Maksimava
I work with adults on anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, eating disorders, and life transitions. My sessions are a practice of noticing - what you do, how you do it, and what happens when you try something slightly different, here first and then outside. We work with whatever is alive right in the moment - a shift in tone, a breath, or the gap between what you say and what you feel. I don’t rush to get rid of something before we understand it. We pay attention to the body as well as the thinking. Maybe something feels off and you can’t name it. Maybe you already have some understanding. All fine places to start. Over time we find more choice where there used to be a wall.
First we understand it, then we see what’s needed. Often things start to move once we stop fighting them.
First session
Mostly a conversation. I’ll ask what brought you here and what you’ve already tried. I’ll also pay attention to what happens while you tell me - where it gets easier to talk, and where it doesn’t. You may not leave first session with a plan or a diagnosis. You’ll probably leave with a clearer sense of what we’d actually be working on, and whether talking to me feels useful. That’s the thing worth knowing before deciding on more.
Strengths
I’m warm and direct, and I’d rather stay with something than hurry past it. I stay tuned into the moment-to-moment dialogue, tracking where things click into focus, where you pull back, and where you find space to stretch. I’ve seen mental health care from inside two very different systems, which makes me slow to accept any single explanation of a person. Humor is welcome: plenty of foolish things have been done with a perfectly serious face.
Ideal clients
My approach will fit you if you’ve already thought about your difficulty a great deal, and found that some understanding is helpful, but hasn’t been enough. You’re willing to slow down and notice what’s happening while it happens, rather than only report on it afterwards. You can stay with something unfinished for a few minutes without needing it resolved - more curious about what it turns out to need than in a hurry to settle it. It will work if you want to find where you stop being yourself, find yourself again, and have more say in what comes next.
Treatment methods
Interpersonal
The relationship is the therapy. We explore how you reach toward someone, where you stop, what you do when something gets close, how you handle being looked at. We notice what happens when you soften, or speed up, or get tense - that’s how you live your life, not just something to work out the meaning of. A therapeutic relationship is one where someone says what they actually experience, in the moment. That makes it a place to try fresh ways of relating, setting boundaries, and saying what’s true, without the fear of rejection.
Location
Virtual sessions