Linda Freedman, LCSW, LMFT, PhD.: Individual, Family, Marital & Relationship Therapy

As a versatile therapist and community educator, I work with individuals, couples, and organizations. Relationship-Wise (and whys), a community outreach prevention initiative, is my personal version of macro-practice.

But prevention, unfortunately, is not always possible; and the need for treatment, inevitable. Over the years I’ve developed a few biases about treatment.

Click here for more about those.

But let’s talk, seriously:
Working with all kinds of people, and treating as many problems in as many different ways, I think that evaluation is everything, guides practice. Even if you have limited resources for therapy or terrible insurance, if you’re seeking help, a good diagnostic is the first priority. Get a worthwhile consultation/evaluation if that is all you can afford.

Still, there really is nothing more satisfying than sinking into that sofa and talking your head off for weeks, maybe months at a time. Even if you think it’s going to be hard to do that, you might find it really isn’t as hard as you thought.

On the other hand, brief therapy can help and is cost effective. With me, brief treatment is essentially a good evaluation and a working treatment plan. My style, overall, is pschoeducational and interactive, but you’ll find me quiet until you've run out of words.

Significant others are welcome.

I'm comfortable with a wide variety of treatment modalities, including CBT, ACT, EMDR (a nice little hypnotic thing), grief work,and behavioral techniques for anxiety and post traumatic stress, including obsessive thoughts and memories from childhood. And of course, relationship work.

If a child is an identified patient then it’s likely I’ll want to see parents in the initial visit— unless the child or adolescent has asked to be in treatment alone. Sibling therapy can be very powerful, too, especially with blended families

What are the boundaries here?
I treat just about every disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (APA) or the disorder of the day on Oprah. But I might have to refer you to someone else if it feels out of my range or cuts to close to home. That doesn’t happen very often. Therapy itself always depends upon what you want and need.

Finally, in relationship therapies there is usually some individual work to be done. I like to do all of it,prefer that you discontinue your therapy with someone else so that what we do is not inadvertently sabotaged. I’ll want to see each of you alone, probably, at least once. Mine isn’t a “take sides” role, although you’ll find support here, no question.
You’re both wonderful, not that we all couldn’t use some improvement. Why else would you have chosen one another?