• Chronic Illness and Medical Problems

    Dr. Wawrzyniak draws upon evidence-based therapies to address coping with physical illness, difficult emotions, sleep disruption, and improve your function so that you feel back in the driver’s seat in your body and in your life! Read below for more details on how psychotherapy can help with physical illness and symptoms.

  • Anxiety

    Dr. Wawrzyniak has treated many individuals with general anxiety and worry. Using cognitive and behavioral therapies, these active approaches give you tools to understand your anxious thoughts, and calm your body’s fight-flight response.

  • Depression

    Whether you are feeling helpless and hopeless in response to life events, or have a longstanding diagnosed depression, Dr. Wawrzyniak can help address underlying causes and provide you with tools to manage depression symptoms and get un-stuck.

  • Financial Therapy

    Do you feel ashamed about debt? Do you carry guilt over building or inheriting wealth? Do you avoid even looking at your bank account or spending? Financial worries are some of the most stressful issues for adults and couples. Dr. Wawrzyniak helps individuals understand and heal their relationship with money and finances, utilizing strategies from a relatively new field of psychology: Financial Therapy.

  • Insomnia

    Insomnia and Sleep Problems can be a symptom of other concerns, or a diagnosis on their own. Dr. Wawrzyniak uses CBT-I, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, to improve sleep quality and restorative sleep.

  • Stress Management

    We’re pretty resilient when it comes to dealing with an isolated stressful event— but when we’re in ongoing stressful situations, or a few big events happen at once, it can take a toll on the body, mind, and spirit. Dr. Wawrzyniak works with clients who feel stuck and helpless and builds their resilience through cognitive and behavioral strategies, or by identifying major lifestyle changes to make.

  • The Messy Middle

    Dr. Wawrzyniak has experience working with adults in the “messy middle” stage of life—young family, aging parents, changes in physical health, wanting the most of their career or wondering about a career change. While you might not suffer from a clinical problem like anxiety or depression, psychotherapy can help you answer the ‘big questions’ about what really matters, and help move you from surviving to thriving during this stage of adulthood.

My Approach to Psychotherapy

I take an active approach to psychotherapy. I want you to get a lot out of your therapy—not only from each session, but also to bring forward with you in your life after therapy has ended. I provide clients with information about psychology and clinical research, and synthesize this with your own experiences and struggles, so that you have a deeper understanding of how your thoughts and emotions, and interpersonal relationships operate, and how they can change.

Rather than asking you to adopt a strict therapy protocol, I adapt the protocol to your own specific experiences and worldview. That is the key to providing evidence-based psychotherapy, and why you would do this live with a psychologist instead of just researching therapy tools on your own.

I draw upon cognitive and behavioral therapies, including:

  • Behavioral Therapy

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Exposure Therapy and Desensitization

These therapies focus on thoughts and our actions/reactions in relation to emotions and symptoms. They offer a framework for breaking down our internal experiences into components, and then offer strategies and tools to change these components, thereby producing a different experience.

Clients often start therapy at a time of feeling helpless, hopeless, stuck, or overwhelmed. While I begin with these structured therapies described above, there are often bigger and deeper questions that get raised in therapy. These might be related to your deepest values and what you want your life to stand for. Or these might be about past difficult experiences or relationships that have been shaping your life and your choices. Exploring these deeper layers can be key to making significant changes rather than “managing” the problem.

Training and Experience

2011: Completed a doctoral degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in health psychology at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (now William James College). Pre-doctoral training with Facing Cancer Together and the Tufts Craniofacial Pain Center.

2013: Completed post-doctoral training at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (now Atrius Health) and obtained licensure in Massachusetts

2013-2020: Served as Director of Behavioral Medicine at Boston Pain Care, working on an integrated care team to help adult clients with chronic pain conditions. Created a psychology training program and supervised pre- and post-doctoral students.

2020- today: Focused on growing private practice, expanding the range of clinical work and the variety of concerns that clients need help with. Currently teaching graduate-level courses and consulting to a medical device startup on their clinical research program.

Dr. Wawrzyniak specializes in working with people with physical illness or symptoms.

  • Chronic Illness

    • diabetes, heart disease, Crohn's, colitis, IBS, COPD, and more

  • Chronic Pain Disorders

    • TMD, headache/migraine, back/neck pain, neuropathy, and more

  • Unexplained Medical Symptoms (symptoms for which doctors have not made a diagnosis)

  • Coping with Acute Injuries or Unexpected Medical Emergencies

How can psychotherapy help me with my physical illness?

  • Adjusting to a new health problem

    • new treatments, changes in your body and function, and interference with daily life can be overwhelming!

  • Learning to handle emotions

    • grief, sadness, hopelessness, anger, and anxiety are common when we experience health problems

  • Rebuilding a meaningful life worth living

    • even when a health problem stops you from doing things that have been important to you

  • Improving your symptoms such as sleep, pain, energy/fatigue

    • Some psychotherapy strategies have a direct impact on your body

  • Helping you advocate for your medical care and make big decisions about treatments, surgeries, etc.

  • Helping you improve relationships with your friends, family, and children

  • Helping you improve your function and abilities

    • Psychotherapy approaches, in coordination with your medical team, can help you optimize your function.

FAQs

Learn more

  • Initial Psychological Evaluation (1-3, 50-min Meetings) - $225
    Follow-up Psychotherapy (50 min) - $225
    Follow-up Psychotherapy (25 min) -​ $145 

    I accept payment by check or credit card.

    There is a Late Cancellation Fee of $125 charged for cancellations with <48 hours’ notice.

  • I am not currently in-network with any insurance plans. This means I am considered an "out-of-network" or "OON" provider. If you would like to use insurance to help pay for sessions, please contact your plan about "out-of-network" benefits for psychotherapy.  I provide you with a monthly "superbill" that you can submit to your insurance for any reimbursement they might give you.

    ​Psychotherapy is often considered a "qualified healthcare expense" for which you can use funds from an FSA or HSA. Please contact your account servicer about this benefit with your account/plan, and the process for utilizing these funds.

    Here are some helpful questions to ask your insurer:
      1. call the mental health/behavioral health benefits number on your card, if there is one
      2. ask about "out-of-network" benefits that you have with your insurance plan
      3. ask about any deductible amount that would first be applied, and how much of this you have already paid  
          for the year, and when the deductible re-sets each year
      4. the codes I would use are 90791 for evaluation meetings, then 90834 for the 50-minute follow-up meetings.
      5. ask about if the coverage for telehealth is the same as in-person.  
      6. ask if they require a "modifier code" for telehealth, and what the code number is.
      7. ask your insurance if they have their own documents/forms/process to submit this each month.

  • At this time, ALL meetings are virtual (telehealth) via a HIPAA-secure service. You must be located in the state of Massachusetts at the time of each appointment.

  • Yes, I offer evening appointments on Tuesdays. Other days are possible, please contact me.

  • Dr. Wawrzyniak can conduct a 1-3 meeting evaluation/consultation. This may be particularly useful at the request of your medical provider or psychotherapist, who is looking for an expert opinion and feedback to integrate into your current treatment plan.

    In addition to a general psychosocial evaluation, Dr. Wawrzyniak has expertise in conducting evaluations for:

    -Spinal Cord Stimulator

    -Risk related to Chronic Opioid Therapy for Pain and Tapering

    -Work-related Injury / Worker’s Compensation Cases

    A Consultation Evaluation results in a formal report that can be sent to you or other providers involved in your care.

  • No, at this time in the state of Massachusetts, psychologists cannot prescribe medications. Dr. Wawrzyniak will work in coordination with your prescriber, or help you find one if medications should be considered for your treatment.

  • Weekly meetings are always recommended when beginning, so that Dr. Wawrzyniak can more quickly understand you, your struggles, and your goals. Then, depending upon your therapy goals, Dr. Wawrzyniak can advise if meeting every 2 or 4 weeks would also be effective for you. When clients meet on this interval, it often includes integrating other resources, such as readings or reflection exercises, in between meetings.

  • You may have heard or read about the “No Surprises Act”, effective January 1, 2022, enacted by the Department of Health and Human Services. In brief, this is intended to address/reduce/eliminate circumstances in which you receive medical care in emergency and some non-emergency medical circumstances, and later receive a large bill due to the services being considered outside of your health insurance network coverage. You can learn more here www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers

     
    In accordance with the "No Surprises Act", and my practice being an individual private practice and not a healthcare facility, and that I provide services "out-of-network", please review the official notice below, in compliance with the law.

    You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost
    Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.​

    • You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.

    • Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.

    • If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.

    • Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.


    For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.