Dan Gilner (he/him) MA, MSS, Professional Counselor Associate

Therapy can be a caring space for insight, personal development, and healing. Each one of us has our own unique history and growth process. My goal is to support your overall mental, emotional, and relational health. I work with anxiety, trauma, shame, and grief. Within these experiences I specialize in the following: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD); trauma including dissociation, disembodiment, panic, and / or fear; an intrusive inner critical voice / part of ourselves; and helping couples identity and repair unhealthy relationship patterns and coping mechanisms related to these experience. I offer a holistic and integrated approach to therapy, meeting you where you are and listening to your unique story. Together, we will create a therapeutic path toward your personal goals. By focusing on your strengths and inner wisdom, we can navigate your healing journey, addressing experiences and fostering growth in a way that feels right for you. People who I work with may be experiencing the following: intrusive, unwanted, and obsessive thoughts / behaviors; feeling like your mind and emotional responses are stuck or cycling through a painful loop; dissociation, feeling like you are not in your body, and cannot connect with emotions and sensations the way you want to; intense feelings of panic and terror; experiencing an intrusive inner critical voice / part of ourselves that says you are doing the wrong thing and not worthy of care; and falling into habitual relational patterns related to these issues that cause ourselves and our partners pain, and that we are having difficulty changing or identifying. ___________________________________ Therapeutic Approach You are your own person. There is no single modality that is right for everyone. Instead, I weave together diverse therapeutic approaches to address your personal needs. Here are some of the tools I draw from: Somatic Therapy provides a way to process feelings in your body, so they do not feel stuck or overwhelming. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy cultivates a heightened awareness of thoughts and feelings, allowing you to engage with them in healthier ways. Behavioral Therapy helps you reshape unhealthy patterns linked to thoughts and feelings. Existential Therapy contributes to philosophical or spiritual integration, aiding in understanding, building, and repairing your unique frameworks of self. Compassion Focused Therapy equips you with tools for positive self-development, addressing the inner critic as well as feelings of shame and guilt. I believe that the client-therapist alliance is the most important aspect of therapy. It is vital that you feel seen, safe, and supported. Our sessions together focus on your goals and needs, in an environment centered in compassion, non-judgment, and deep listening. About my focus areas: I have specialized training in working with OCD and related anxiety disorders through several therapies including Exposure Response Prevention Therapy, Somatic Therapy, and Compassion Focused Therapy; I trained with a leading expert in trauma and dissociation; and I have taught Compassion Training for many years to help others heal their inner critics, shame, and guilt. ___________________________________ About Me: Before starting my private practice I worked for many years in care focused roles. These roles included the director of care services and senior care team member for an international peer-support organization and the director of a wilderness adventure and youth leadership program for teenagers. I also worked and continue to work as a meditation teacher. In 2023, I was invited to Harvard University Medical School to co-lead a training for Post-Doctoral Fellows in Integrative Medicine. The focus was on exploring how specific types of meditation can potentially exacerbate anxiety and dissociation, leading to experiences resembling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder (DPDR). This training delved into the neuroscience underlying Meditation-Related Adverse Effects (MRAEs) and discussed optimal care modalities for managing conditions such as increased anxiety and dissociation. In addition to being a trained therapist, I am also a trained meditation teacher and have been teaching meditation practices for over a decade. I am able to weave my therapeutic and meditation teacher training together, providing deeper accessibility to certain therapies I utilize, including Compassion Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. If this resonates with you, please contact me for a free 20 minute phone / video consultation to explore working together. Please know that you are not alone. I'm here to help. ___________________________________ Fees and Insurance Information: My sliding scale rates are between $100 - $150 for individuals and $140 - $180 for couples, and are based on financial circumstance and need. Please call me to discuss sliding scale rates. I am happy to work with you to make specialized therapy accessible and affordable. For out-of-network insurance reimbursement, I can provide you with a super-bill that you can give to your insurance for out-of-network benefits reimbursement, as per your policy. Many policies have reimbursement options for out-of-network care providers. I can both explain and assist with this.