Maria Swanson, LMHC
Hello!
I am a licensed mental health counselor in Massachusetts and the creator of Emotional Creatures Mental Health.
My approach reinforces building a non-judgmental mindset and using language as a tool to understand and shape reality as we see it. This extends to how we process and own our emotions. I emphasize with clients the importance of building intentional and genuine connections through what feels safe, fun, and meaningful, and I use this as a guide in my own life and work. We’ll practice this together and make sure you can adapt and extend this to your own life outside of counseling.
Counseling works well as a mutual, collaborative process through which we each give attention and energy to your mental health. I use relational, collaborative, queer, and narrative therapy approaches to build a supportive and unique connection with each of my clients. This connection is critical to help us both build enough trust to comfortably share our deeper wisdoms about life and health.
I look forward to hearing from you if these approaches resonate with you! Please read on and schedule a brief consultation appointment with me to learn more about the work I do and how I can adjust it to your situation.
counseling trajectory
Counseling with me is typically long-term (1+ years) with an aim to rebuild perspective and life narratives that support sustainable and adaptable well-being. This includes working through traumatic, existential, and cultural emotional wounds. While we can’t go back to times before as if the hard times never happened, we can make choices about how we want to move forward and learn how to change our circumstances for the future to become unstuck.
I also enjoy supporting those working on focused & defined short-term projects—whether you’re a new, current, or past client. We can pre-define our work into a given timeline, or end when you feel good to go without sessions (including gradually tapering session frequency).
I like to co-create treatment plans, using language and terms that speak to you. I can make recommendations for the type and length of counseling based on what you share with me, and we can continue to collaborate on this throughout our time together. Regardless of the exact details of counseling, I will support you to create space to settle into change processes and to find relief and catharsis along the way.
