Stefan Baumgartner

Hello there,

Feeling stuck? Feeling stressed out about all the things that are competing for your attention? Wanting to change your relationship with yourself, so you can spread your wings and soar?

I'm Stefan (he/him) and I want to be there on your journey. Starting therapy can feel scary, even if you've been in therapy before! To lower that intensity a bit, I want you to give you an idea of how I show up to sessions:

- I get to know you - your family, friends, hobbies, shows, loves, fears, passions.
- I celebrate and hype you up when you do the hard thing.
- I ask questions to get you curious about patterns in your life, and point out when you might not be aware of them.
- I offer compassion when your mind creates judgements about yourself.
- I welcome and ask for feedback, knowing some things will land and others will not.
- I laugh at your jokes!
- I tear up when you feel hurt or uncover a tender spot (while also holding space for you to feel).
- I'll tell you when I'm proud of you.
- I nerd out about mental health, skills, approaches, and explain concepts in a way you'll understand.
- I slow down and speed up based on your cues, and I give you choice in how we go about sessions.
- I'm always working on our relationship, so there's trust and security when we get to difficult things.
- I acknowledge the bigger systems of oppression that affect your life and lives of your loved ones.
- I'm active and dynamic in sessions - sometimes asking questions, leading an activity, listening and reflecting, interrupting to highlight something you said, and synthesizing information and summarizing it back to you.

All of this "I" is the effort I put into helping you get to "you": what you want, what you care about, your goals, dreams, your emotions, stressors, internal talk, and who you want to become and how you want to show up in life.

Specialties: queer and trans identities and lived experiences, anxiety and depression, perfectionism, substance use, navigating family dynamics, healing trauma, couples and relationship work, career discernment

Approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR; trauma approach), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Gottman Method (for relationship work), mindfulness and somatic interventions

I'm an associate counselor, seeing clients through telehealth in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and California. My typical availability is 9am-5pm EST, although I sometimes see clients earlier in the morning or early evening. Please reach out with any questions!

I accept the following insurances:
- United/Optum/UMR/UHC in Massachusetts and California
- Harvard Pilgrim/Tufts in Massachusetts
- Quest in Pennsylvania

Private pay rates are:
Individual - $125-$175
Couples/Relationships/Family - $145-$195