PVD Psychological Associates

  Feelings of shame can affect anyone at any stage of life—from adolescence through adulthood. If left ignored, shame can contribute to a wide range of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Sometimes, shame can be so paralyzing that individuals find it difficult to function at work or school and form close relationships with others. If you’re experiencing shame, you’re not alone. Therapy can help you understand why you feel ashamed, navigate your mental health concerns, and break free from shame. https://pvdpsych.com/

  Personality disorders are a group of mental illnesses . They involve long-term patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are unhealthy and inflexible. The behaviors cause serious problems with relationships and work. People with personality disorders have trouble dealing with everyday stresses and problems. They often have stormy relationships with other people.  They may try to get help because of their problems with relationships and work. Treatment usually includes talk therapy and sometimes medicine. https://pvdpsych.com/about/

  One of the most important connections between humans is the one between them and their families. No family is without problems, arguments, and stress. Key aspects when retaining harmony in your family is the way you parent your children, manage your personal issues, and handle conflict. Parent counseling is an invaluable service that will offer you unbiased guidance and support; helping you understand and identify the needs of every individual in your family and better look after the well-being of your family unit. https://pvdpsych.com/therapy/

  Mindfulness is now the fastest-developing area in mental health. Many therapists have come to regard cultivating moment-to-moment awareness as a curative mechanism that transcends diagnosis, addresses underlying causes of suffering, and serves as an active ingredient in most effective psychotherapies. The clinical value of mindfulness interventions has been demonstrated for many psychological difficulties, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, substance abuse, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. https://pvdpsych.com/

  No Surprises Act The No Surprises Act protects individuals from surprise medical billing. You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost if you choose to see a provider who is not in network with your insurance. Under Section 2799B-6 of the Public Health Service Act, health care providers and facilities are required to inform individuals who are do not have insurance or are not seeking to file a claim with their plan or coverage with a “Good Faith Estimate,” (GFE) of expected charges. This GFE should be present both orally and in writing at the time of scheduling health care items and services, to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” of expected charges. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance to cover services an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services. You have the right to receive a Good F...

  PTSD can leave you feeling stuck with a constant sense of danger and painful memories. But with new coping skills, you can feel safe again and move on from the trauma. Getting professional help for PTSD If you suspect that you or a loved one has post-traumatic stress disorder, it's important to seek help right away. The sooner PTSD is treated, the easier it is to overcome. If you're reluctant to seek help, keep in mind that PTSD is not a sign of weakness, and the only way to overcome it is to confront what happened to you and learn to accept it as a part of your past. This process is much easier with the guidance and support of an experienced therapist or doctor. https://pvdpsych.com/

  Counseling for addiction aims to help people change behaviors and attitudes around using a substance, as well as strengthening life skills and supporting other treatments. Clinicians at PVD Psychological Associates are well versed in working with these problems using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) strategies, motivational interviewing (MI), and dynamic therapy. https://pvdpsych.com/substance-use-problems/

  Eating disorders are a group of disorders characterized by a change in a persons relationship to food and/or body image. In my experience, I find they can be challenging for patients to deal with in that unlike other activities that patients can avoid, (such as alcohol consumption or gambling), food intake is necessary for survival. Therefore, especially at the beginning of treatment, there can be a lot of struggle with changing behaviors. In terms of treatment, anorexia is different from the others. For patients with anorexia, medical stabilization is of the utmost importance, and sometimes will even occur in an inpatient setting to make sure that vital signs and electrolytes are monitored appropriately. Psychotherapy is also extremely important, as medications do not seem to help with this condition (likely related to the brains functioning in the starvation state). Patients with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder often benefit from antidepressants such as prozac and z...

  Online therapy involves therapy sessions that you attended via telephone, video calls, chat rooms, or email. This is an especially wonderful option for those with mobility limitations, who prefer a more private setting, and those who live in a therapy desert. Some providers also accept insurance if you're insured. For those not insured, many providers offer a sliding-scale payment option. Here are the companies that scored the highest marks across the board. https://pvdpsych.com/fees-insurance/

  Trauma-informed care (TIC) involves a broad understanding of traumatic stress reactions and common responses to trauma. Providers need to understand how trauma can affect treatment presentation, engagement, and the outcome of behavioral health services. Trauma, including one-time, multiple, or long-lasting repetitive events, affects everyone differently. Some individuals may clearly display criteria associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but many more individuals will exhibit resilient responses or brief subclinical symptoms or consequences that fall outside of diagnostic criteria. The impact of trauma can be subtle, insidious, or outright destructive. How an event affects an individual depends on many factors, including characteristics of the individual, the type and characteristics of the event(s), developmental processes, the meaning of the trauma, and sociocultural factors. https://pvdpsych.com/what-we-treat/

  Personality is a way of thinking, feeling and behaving that makes us unique and individual. It is generally thought that our unique personality develops through a combination of genetics, our environment and interactions between the two. Our personality usually stays pretty much the same throughout our lives. Some people find that their personality characteristics create challenges and cause distress. A personality disorder is when personality differs to cultural expectations, causes distress, interferes with participation in normal daily activities like work or relationships, and remains that way over time. The problematic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that are characteristic of personality disorders usually start by late adolescence or early adulthood. Without treatment, personality disorders can impact on a person’s life over the long-term. It’s common for people with personality disorders to also experience other challenges like depression, anxiety or substance ...

  Dr. Jolie Weingeroff  is a Clinical Psychologist at PVD Psychological Associates in Providence, RI. She has advanced training in evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for adults, college students, and adolescents. Her areas of specialization include anxiety, eating disorders, relationship issues, and student and graduate student mental health. She also has extensive experience working with LGBTQIA-identified individuals and their families. As a Clinical Psychologist with extensive training and years of experience in academic and research settings, Dr. Weingeroff has a particular interest in working with graduate students, fellows, faculty, and others working in academia or academic medical settings. Dr. Weingeroff enjoys helping these clients navigate the unique stressors and challenges associated with being part of this culture. Graduate school, fellowships, and residency are critical times in identity dev...

  Christopher Dewey Psychologist, PsyD I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Rhode Island and provide online and in-person individual therapy to adolescents and adults. My areas of specialization and interest include anxiety, depression, gender affirming therapy, exploring the relationship between masculinity norms and depression, navigating interpersonal struggles, college student mental health, developing a healthy/authentic identity, and relationship difficulties. I aim to take all intersecting aspects of my clients’ identities into account, while also recognizing the vast diversity that exists within specific groups. I am an integrative therapist, combining components of psychodynamic therapy with CBT, DBT, and mindfulness based approaches. I create an individualized treatment plan for each of my clients and take a collaborative approach to ensure therapy is effective. Since everyone comes into therapy with their own preferences and varying levels of comfort with discussing ...

  Sandy Muraoka Psychologist, PhD I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Rhode Island providing individual therapy for college students and adults of all ages. My areas of interest and specialization include women's issues, life transitions, multicultural issues, depression, anxiety, and aging. I have worked in a variety of settings including student counseling centers, nursing homes, and private practice. I draw from my experiences in these diverse settings to establish an individually tailored, holistic approach to my work with each client. As a bilingual and bicultural therapist, I have a special interest in working with members of marginalized and oppressed groups to explore the intersectionality of ethnicity, gender, society, and socioeconomic class. My clients describe me as a warm and down-to-earth person who provides safe place for them to explore their lives and challenges. I focus on making clients feel comfortable and safe in revealing their true selves so they can di...

  Psychotherapy , or talk therapy , aims to help an individual identify troubling emotions, thoughts, or behavior using a variety of treatment techniques. It may be utilized as one part of a complete treatment plan or aftercare program to help individuals with a variety of conditions, including mental health disorders and substance use disorder, a medical condition defined by the compulsive use of substances despite negative consequences. Individual therapy is one type of psychotherapy. It involves a trained professional helping a single individual work through the therapeutic process. Group therapy, on the other hand, involves a group of individuals—all of whom are treated at the same time—by a therapist. https://pvdpsych.com/mood-disorders/

  Loss and grief are universal processes and people ordinarily have the natural capacity to adjust to their new lives in the absence of loved ones. However, some losses are experienced more profoundly than others—they cause greater or more prolonged grieving and such reactions are sometimes described as ‘complicated’ or ‘complex.’ This can be associated with characteristics of the loss, or with the meaning of the loss for the individual concerned. https://pvdpsych.com/what-we-treat/

  Anger is a normal, natural emotion that we all experience from time to time. It often arises from frustration, feeling that you’ve been injured by someone, or perceiving an injustice. In many cases, it can be a helpful reaction that motivates us to take action, identify problems, make positive changes, and stay safe. However, anger can become a more problematic emotion when it is intense, frequent, or difficult to control. Anger problems can have serious consequences that impact our lives, work, and relationships, and, in more extreme cases, anger can lead to legal difficulties. The therapists at PVD Psychological Associates have extensive training and experience in a variety of evidence based treatments. https://pvdpsych.com/therapy/

  Whether you already have a regular therapy routine or you want to speak with a professional for the first time, online group therapy is a great option — especially if you have a busy schedule and find it tough to make time for appointments. https://pvdpsych.com/online-therapy/

  Nicole Issa Psychologist, PsyD Dr. Nicole Issa is a Clinical Psychologist in Providence, RI and is also the Founder of  PVD Psychological Associates . Dr. Issa specializes in working with college students, adolescents, and adults. She also works with individuals of all ages who identify as members of the LGBTQIA community. PVD Psychological Associates is one of few BCBS of Rhode Island LGBTQ Safe Zone certified providers. In addition to seeing her clients in Rhode Island, Dr. Issa offers online therapy to clients in Massachusetts and New York. Dr. Issa treats a wide variety of issues, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. She is particularly passionate about supporting college and graduate students as they navigate academic and career stressors, adjustment to change, and relationship challenges. She also enjoys helping adolescents identify their strengths, process their emotions, and find healthy ways of coping with challenges. Dr. Issa meets clients where the...

  Anxiety is   very common in the pre-teen and teenage years . This is because adolescence is a time of emotional, physical and social change, which is happening at the same time as teenage brains are changing. Pre-teens and teenagers are seeking new experiences and more independence. It’s natural for teenagers to feel anxious about these changes, opportunities and challenges. Healthy lifestyle choices can often help pre-teens and teenagers handle anxiety. https://pvdpsych.com/student-mental-health/

  In most cases, grief is a normal and healthy reaction to an emotionally significant loss. Grief gives us a window in to our caring for the person or thing we’ve lost, and it can help us move forward into a new phase of life after the loss. Often, grief comes with symptoms of common mental health conditions like depression or anxiety, but it is not in itself a mental illness. However, when feelings of grief remain intense and last for a long time after a loss, they can keep you from moving forward with a healthy lifestyle. Therapists for loss and grief . www.pvdpsych.com

  If your family is facing challenges impacting daily functioning, experiencing extreme emotional reactions, or suffering from a breakdown in communication, family therapy may be right for you. And if you’re finding that in-person therapy sessions are hard to manage, online family therapy may be helpful. https://pvdpsych.com/contact/