Daniel Rakoff, LCPC

HEALING WORK

Therapy with me: I am trained as a psychodynamic therapist, so working with me means developing a relationship where we feel like we know each other, processing in depth your experiences in life, and making the unconscious conscious in order to promote insight and healing. I integrate this approach with other trauma processing and cognitive behavioral therapy models, as well as provide training in mindfulness meditation. I work with all adults ages 16+ and welcome individuals, couples, and families.  

My impacting identities/roles that inform my work: I view my identity in the ways that I relate to the people in my life. My role as a son and a brother in my family, my role in recovery advocacy in my community, and my role as a therapist to my clients. All aspects of who I am contribute to my unique perspective and to each therapeutic relationship I build.

I feel informed and knowledgeable about: managing addictions and compulsions, mindfulness practices, attachment dynamics in relationships, processing grief and loss, managing family transitions and estrangement, establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries, and trauma in foster care and homelessness.

I work best with clients who: are interested to explore deeper layers of their experience; that is, to me, where meaning is constructed and insight is developed, which contributes to resolving or adapting to the things that cause us to suffer.

I am not a good fit for clients who: need highly formatted structure in session, or prefer lots of handouts and worksheets. 

What makes me unique: I will essentially never tell you what to do, but I will reliably and honestly tell you what I think, typically with humor, thoughtfulness, and my own unique viewpoint. I aim to strike a balance between addressing immediate problems and stressors, and allowing unconscious experiences, feelings, beliefs, and ideas to emerge and shed light.

LEARNING AND GROWING

I enjoy refining my mindfulness meditation practice by participating in retreats and trainings, reading Thich Nhat Hanh and others, and gaining new knowledge and insight on the clinical and personal benefits of mindfulness practices.  Additionally, I am involved in work with Internal Family Systems theory, integrating various trauma-processing models, and exploring research on marriage counseling models and the Gottman Method.

FUN FACTS/RESILIENCE BUILDING

I am an unabashed cat person.

What resources me to build resilience: My key to resilience is developing a habit of self-compassion and practicing radical acceptance.

EDUCATION 

BS in Psychology from University of Massachusetts, Amherst

MA in Counseling Psychology from Towson University