Robert Carey

Providing virtual individual teletherapy services to all NY and MA residents.

Specialized Treatment & Focus:

  - Exposure and Response Prevention
  - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  - Habit Reversal Training
  - Internal Family Systems
  - Culturally informed care
  - LGBTQIA+ affirming care
  - Existential focused care
  - Works with pediatric, young adult, and adult clients

What drew you to this work?

Sport was something that helped me a lot growing up, and I developed a passion and interest for understanding sport as a healing modality. I had the privilege to spend a few years coaching high school soccer. Being in a mentorship role and observing the impact that being a part of a team had on the kids I was coaching was inspiring. I wanted to learn everything about harnessing the power of connection to help people find meaning and make positive changes in their lives. 

What do you love most about working with clients who have OCD and anxiety?

The thing I love most about working with folks who experience this condition is that I get to help people determine the kind of life they want to be living, and help them take meaningful steps in that direction. OCD is a force that does not want you to live in alignment with your values, and we will build an alliance to combat that force. I often find that the work we do becomes about identifying one’s values and building the strength to start doing the things that OCD stands in the way of. 

How would you describe your approach to therapy?

My therapeutic style is warm, flexible, and non-judgmental. I want to create an environment that invites people to open up at their own pace. Honesty and vulnerability are essential to healing and making change, and it’s my job to make people feel like they can safely be that.

What does “good therapy” look like to you?

Good therapy, to me, is collaborative and flexible. Life can be hard and unpredictable, so I try not to get boxed into what our sessions “should” be like. One thing that makes OCD such a tricky condition is that it can shape-shift. We have to be able to pivot with OCD to effectively target it. We can use the time we have together, and the alliance we are developing, to identify and work toward goals in the long and short term, while also making space for anything life throws at you along the way. 

What’s something you want clients to feel when they sit with you? What’s one thing you often find yourself saying to clients?

It’s my biggest priority to make clients feel a sense of safety and trust, free of judgement. OCD attacks the things that are most important to us, and it can often feel dangerous—like a massive risk—to speak honestly and expose oneself to the vulnerability of sharing these worries with another person. During our time working together, we will build an alliance that serves to disempower OCD, reallocating that power back to you. 

What’s something you enjoy outside of therapy?

I love engaging with art. Outside of my professional work, I enjoy spending my free time listening to records, going to concerts, watching movies, visiting museums, trying new foods or restaurants, drawing, painting, and sharing these experiences with others.