A Mindful, Compassionate, and Curious Approach To Therapy
Do you sense that something in your inner world is asking for attention? Maybe there’s anxiety that won’t settle, persistant low mood, a familiar pattern that continually resurfaces, or a longing to feel steadier and more connected to yourself. You might notice moments when thoughts pull you away from the present, emotions feel overwhelming or hard to access, and old patterns still shape how you relate to yourself and others. Even when you understand what’s happening, it can be hard to know how to shift.
Mindfulness-based therapy offers a new, gentle, and spacious way of approaching your inner world. Rather than trying to “fix” or push away what feels difficult, we turn toward what’s arising with curiosity, kindness, and compassion. You learn how to pay attention on purpose, gently returning to present moment awareness. From this place, you can begin to relate to your experiences with curiosity and kindness rather than reactivity, self-criticism, and overwhelm.
What Is Mindfulness-Based Therapy?
Mindfulness-based therapy is an approach that blends clinical psychotherapy with contemplative practice. It helps you gently notice your inner experience, while giving you tools to shift the patterns that no longer serve you. It helps you become more aware of how thoughts, emotions, and patterns of behavior arise, and why they tend to unfold the way they do. Rather than trying to change or control your experience, the focus is on developing a different relationship with it—one that is more attentive, compassionate, and curious.
This work is grounded in the understanding that much of our suffering comes not only from what arises within us, but also from how we judge, resist, or become entangled with it. Mindfulness invites a pause. It offers a way to notice an experience as it is, moment-by-moment, with curiosity, kindness and care.
Over time, this shift in relationship opens space for patterns that no longer serve you to soften and change. The work unfolds gradually, one moment and one breath at a time, offering a way of meeting yourself that is both steady and deeply transformative.
How Mindfulness Therapy Supports Change
Many people come to therapy feeling caught in familiar loops of rumination, worry, self-criticism, emotional reactivity, or withdrawal. These patterns often develop as adaptive strategies, shaped by earlier experiences and the nervous system’s efforts to protect.
Mindfulness-based therapy supports change by helping you bring kind attention to these patterns as they arise. As awareness grows, you begin to notice the cues in thought, emotion, and the body that signal when old habits are being activated. This noticing creates a natural pause—a moment of choice—where new responses can begin to take shape.
This way of paying attention on purpose, with kindness and interest, fosters greater steadiness and flexibility. Patterns that once felt automatic gradually loosen, making room for responses that feel more intentional and aligned with what matters to you. Change unfolds not through force, but through understanding, presence, and a kinder relationship with your inner experience.
Where Mindfulness-Based Therapy Can Be Supportive
This approach is adaptable and offers support for a range of emotional, relational, and life challenges, meeting each with care and steadiness. It can help with:
anxiety, stress, and ongoing worry
depression and low mood
rumination and self-criticism
difficulties with emotional regulation
attachment and relationship patterns
grief, loss, and life transitions
trauma-informed work with the nervous system
cultivating self-compassion and inner steadiness
Integrating Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
I often integrate Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) into therapy sessions. MBCT is a highly effective approach that weaves mindfulness practices with cognitive therapy principles. It is particularly helpful for working with patterns of depression, anxiety, and recurrent negative thinking.
In MBCT-informed work, the emphasis is not on changing the content of thoughts, but on noticing how the mind relates to them. You learn to recognize thoughts as mental events rather than facts, and to meet them with awareness rather than becoming pulled into habitual loops.
MBCT practices can be woven into mindful therapy sessions, offering practical ways to strengthen awareness, emotional regulation, and self-compassion in daily life.
Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Mindfulness-based therapy is not limited to what happens during sessions. The practices and perspectives developed in therapy naturally extend into daily life— into relationships, work, and moments of stress or uncertainty.
Most clients notice meaningful differences in how they relate to themselves and their lives. These often include a greater ability to stay present during difficult moments, less reactivity, more clarity in decision-making, and a growing sense of kindness toward oneself. Over time, many people feel more anchored and better able to navigate life’s challenges with steadiness and care.
As mindfulness becomes more familiar, it often shifts from something you practice to a way you relate to your everyday experiences, offering support and clarity in both ordinary and challenging moments.
Let’s Connect
If you feel drawn to mindfulness therapy and live in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Virginia, please reach out to schedule an initial call to connect. I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation, and I’m happy to connect to discuss needs and goals, as well as to answer questions you have about therapy and my practice.
Please note that all work with clients is done through online therapy, allowing you to engage in this healing process from your office or a quiet and comfortable space in your home. From wherever you join when we meet, I design our time together to be meaningful and transformative. With support, skills, and practice, you can cultivate a way of being that feels anchored, aware, and aligned with the life you want to live.