Therapy for real life
Whether you’re navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship challenges, or struggling with other mental health concerns, we provide a calm, welcoming space where healing happens.
We help you create sustainable change.
If you or your child is suffering from constant sadness, anxiety, mood swings, loss of interest in activities, difficulty with relationships, or behavior problems, we can help. Expand Psychology’s clinicians are experts in a variety of therapy treatments that help clients make tangible changes in their lives.
How our therapy process works
Our thoughtful intake process utilizes real conversations, not online matching algorithms, to ensure we match you with the right therapist based on your specific symptoms and needs. Our goal is to help you graduate from therapy and live a happier, more fulfilling life.
1. Evaluation period
Effective therapy starts with a trusting relationship between you and your clinician. The first four sessions focus on assessing symptoms, ensuring the right fit, and building your treatment plan.
2. Collaborative treatment plan
Our plans are specific and collaborative. We value your input, so we work together to establish the right goals. For children and adolescents, we actively solicit parental input.
3. Treatment
Trust is everything in therapy. We believe collaboration and attentive listening is the best way to gain insights into your thought patterns and behaviors and identify helpful, healthy ways to work through them.
What types of therapy do you provide?
Expand Psychology was originally established as The Center for Cognitive Therapy and Assessment to provide high-quality, evidence-based mental health care.
While we continue to offer Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we have intentionally grown our team of specialists to provide a variety of treatment modalities and treat a wider array of mental health challenges. Your therapist will always collaborate with you to develop a treatment plan tailored to your specific symptoms and goals.
Evidence-based specialty treatments for complex challenges
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Recognize and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors
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Psychodynamic Talk Therapy
Explore how past experiences influence current thoughts, emotions, and relationships
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Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD
Face your fears gradually while learning to resist compulsive behaviors
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Pain Reprocessing Therapy
Retrain your brain’s reaction to chronic pain signals to reduce physical discomfort
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Play Therapy
Helps children express feelings and resolve challenges through play
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Internal Family Systems
Aims to heal wounded aspects of ourselves by gaining insight into the different parts of our psyche and experiences
FAQs
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When you have your intake conversation with our team, we will discuss your symptoms and history. If CBT feels like the best fit, we will pair you with an expert CBT clinician for a consultation. Many of our therapists are trained in multiple modalities and can help determine the best treatment plan for you.
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From the outside, CBT looks like two individuals having a conversation together in a safe, comfortable space. The first four sessions will focus on building a trusting relationship with your clinician, assessing your symptoms, and building your collaborative treatment plan. As CBT treatment progresses, your therapist will help you identify patterns in your thoughts and behavior and help you find more helpful, healthy, and adaptive ways to reduce your symptoms. Common strategies include finding ways to reduce the accommodation of anxiety, developing more realistic thinking (learning how to challenge those “what if” worries about the future), identifying core beliefs about one’s self, participating in relaxation techniques, and being introduced to effective coping strategies.
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Yes, Expand has experts in psychodynamic therapy, which is another form of talk therapy. Psychodynamic therapy is focused on increasing self-awareness and insight into how our past relationships and experiences influence our present thoughts, feelings, behavior, relationship patterns, impulses, and drives. This treatment helps clients become aware of unconscious patterns of functioning or behavior that are at the emotional root of their symptoms.
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Psychodynamic therapy can be a good fit for clients who:
Feel stuck in repeated patterns of behavior that are impacting their emotional functioning or relationships
Are struggling with difficulties related to self-esteem and exploration of identity
Are experiencing depression, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation
Want to better understand themselves in a more holistic and deeper way
Feel as though they are working to piece together the puzzle of their lives and find meaning in their stories and experiences
Are looking to process the impact of past traumas and struggles
Hope to understand ways their early childhood experiences may impact current functioning
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Yes, telehealth appointments are available for anyone in Virginia, DC, Maryland and 39 additional states. We understand telehealth provides flexibility that is critical to many people inside and beyond our community. The states we serve include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and South Dakota.