I am Regan Murphy (she/her), a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works with adult individuals and couples. I strive to provide a reliable relationship and a trusting environment, so that we can dig deep into learning more about your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and personal values. I aim to help you increase your motivation, your self-perception, and your sense of agency.
I ask my clients to slow down in our sessions - this means we pause and take time to sit with uncomfortable thoughts and emotions. I teach you skills to improve how you relate to your inner world; once you make space to acknowledge what is important about your pain and struggles, then you are ready to live mindfully and with meaning.
Through the evidenced-based approaches listed below, you learn to raise your awareness of predictable patterns and barriers that keep you stuck. From there, you explore and reorganize around your personal values, and engage in action steps that move you towards your goals. Sometimes this means you practice changing things that are within your control, and sometimes it means you practice letting go of fixing, and instead learn to live with things that are out your control.
I teach and incorporate mindfulness meditation and relaxation strategies into sessions, and I strongly encourage my clients to follow through on experiential homework exercises between our weekly appointments - the reality is, the most progress will come from what you are practicing and implementing outside of sessions.
These approaches will be customized for individual and couples treatment, though they pull on the same threads. As a behavioral and relational therapist, my goal is to teach you to become your own therapist. We will review your progress every few months, and assess if this approach is working for you. I am happy to recommend other treatments and to provide referrals for specialists.
I am on your team, and I think of myself as your cheerleader, emotional detective, collaborative problem solver, and accountability partner. I hope that you find me to be kind, warm, accepting, approachable, and committed to your progress. I will also use and model a firm and direct style when I believe it is helpful for your treatment.
I am an LGBTQIA+ ally. I also believe in an anti-diet lifestyle, so I will reference concepts such as Health at Every Size (HAES), Intuitive Eating and Joyful Movement.
I received my Masters in Social Work from the University of Chicago in 2014, and received my Bachelors in English and Economics from Northwestern University in 1996. I spent many years working in ad sales & marketing - and prior to that a brief stint in accounting! - before changing careers to become a therapist. In my free time, I put energy towards gardening, walking, yoga, and simplifying my life.
I offer Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm appointment times via telehealth only. I do not have evening or weekend hours, or in-person sessions. I am not in-network with insurance, thus if you plan to submit out of network claims to your insurance, I can provider the necessary "superbill" invoices. Please consider if these limitations will meet your needs.
I am happy to set up a free 15-minute phone call to see if we might be a fit.
Regan Murphy
Behavioral & Relational Therapist