therapy for FIXERS, RESCUERS, & INTELLECTUALIZERS
FIND GREATER COMFORT WITH YOUR EMOTIONS
Therapy offers a space to slow down, connect, and be deeply heard and understood.
Together, we can uncover patterns and explore meaningful, personalized coping tools to help you unwind and reconnect with yourself, your loved ones, and your passions.
Maybe you’ve been turning the same thoughts over and over in your mind, searching for clarity, peace, solutions, or certainty—and not quite finding it. Therapy offers a space to talk through your concerns, ruminations, and vulnerable concerns at length, without judgment or interruption.
My goal is to develop a deep, holistic understanding of how your experiences connect, so we can identify meaningful patterns and opportunities for growth, insight, and behavioral change.
I help individuals whose minds are always racing or looping looking for solutions find a place to let it out, ground themselves, and create the conditions for clarity and peace.
I especially enjoy working with millennial women who are nurses and have significant experience helping fixers, heroes, and rescuers become more comfortable with their emotions.
WHEN WE FORGET TO FEEL BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO
We all go through times when we’re not feeling our best. Maybe you have felt this way for a little while.
Maybe you are struggling with:
Anxiety: You are worried, nervous, and feeling edgy. You’ve tried looking up tools and reading self-help books, but nothing is helping break the pattern. Maybe your worries stem from career fatigue, people pleasing, past interpersonal trauma, or relational difficulties. No matter where they may be coming from, we’ll give them time, space, and think outside of the box and break the cycle.
Communication: You have a habit of not asking for nor accepting help, or there is a breakdown of communication in your relationship. Maybe you’re no longer feeling seen nor connected in your primary relationship or friendships. Perhaps you’re processing past challenges from family relationships that you suspect might be casting a shadow on your current connections. Perhaps it’s hard to connect when you’re focused on fixing, helping, and problem solving.
Most of us need to feel seen, heard, and validated in these defense mechanisms while also gaining new perspectives and tools to start feeling lighter.
From a holistic, nuanced perspective, we will understand where stuck points are stemming from and how to heal & soften them.
Anxiety, disconnection, insecurity, and confused feelings can lead us to feel apathetic, inadequate, self-disparaging, isolated, and even grief.
These feelings are valid and there are healthy, effective, and meaningful ways to transform them. This is what therapy is for.
YOU DESERVE HIGH-QUALITY, THOUGHTFUL, COMPREHENSIVE CARE
You can expect me to integrate the following styles of therapy. If these are therapist jargon to you, don’t worry about it. What’s most important is that you feel connected to your therapist and they’re able to offer customized, effective tools to augment your own natural problem solving process. I’m happy to explain these further any time.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
A focus on uncovering unconscious thoughts and emotions to understand and change present feelings, behavior, and relationship patterns. Insight-oriented.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Action-oriented, mindfulness-based behavioral therapy with a focus on accepting difficult thoughts and emotions rather than struggling against or avoiding them.
Relational Psychotherapy
How past interactions, societal factors, and relationships shape us. Through exploration, the goal is to improve communication, foster self-awareness, and repair relational wounds.
YOU CAN FEEL YOUR EMOTIONS AND STILL BE STRONG AND RESILIENT
A LITTLE ABOUT THE THERAPIST
MEREDITH WARD, LCSW
I have a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College in Psychological Science
And a master’s degree from Smith College School for Social Work
I’m a psychotherapist based in Philadelphia
I am licensed fully to provide therapy independently to residents of Pennsylvania
I love to garden, watch films, and bike around the city
I have published on anxiety and clinical neuroscience
I have worked and studied in the field for over 10 years
Mirror Lake Therapy takes a cultural constructivist perspective on mental health.
We will work through a cultural constructivist lens, which means your story lives inside many stories—family, community, language, race, gender, class, immigration, sexuality, workplace norms. We’ll explore how those contexts shape the meaning of relationships and “good enough,” and decide together which expectations you want to keep, rewrite, or leave behind.
You’re welcome here if you want to explore how race, gender, and/or societal expectations and norms have informed past relational or institutional experiences.
COSTS AND INSURANCE
I am an out-of-network provider. This means that you pay for services in full, but may be able to have your insurance reimburse you after. You can give your insurance company a call and ask about out-of-network benefits for therapy.
You deserve high-quality, comprehensive, compassionate care.
The fee for an hour of individual therapy session is $200.
I accept all HSA, FSA, credit and debit cards through my secure HIPAA-compliant patient portal.
You can ask your insurance if you have any out-of-network mental health benefits. If so, you may be able to get a significant portion of your payments reimbursed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are your fees?
$200 for an hour. Longer sessions are available at a pro-rated amount.
What are out-of-network benefits?
Benefits you can use to get reimbursed for seeing a provider who is not in-network with your insurance company.
What’s the difference between in-network and out-of-network benefits?
In-network benefits typically will allow you to see a therapist for a copay and the insurance company pays the therapist directly. The therapist is on a contract with the insurance company which makes them “in their network”. Whereas out-of-network means I have not signed a contract to work for your insurance company and so I am “out of their network”. However, many benefits packages offer coverage to see a preferred provider that is not in their direct network and will reimburse you after you provide them with receipts from our sessions. This is often necessary when looking to see a specialist.
How do I figure out my benefits?
You can look on the benefits summary you may have received when you got your insurance which should have a table of common services and your in-network and out-of-network benefits. Or you may call your insurance company.
Do you have evening or weekend availability?
Yes, I only offer sessions during evenings or weekends at this time. I provide therapy out of my personal interest and investment in the craft outside of my full-time research work.
Do you have in person availability?
I work virtually at this time from my home office in Philly.
Do I have to have a consultation?
Yes, as I am taking clients in a limited capacity, I do like to make sure it is a good fit before we get started and you invest your time and resources.
What are your specialties?
Intellectualizers, fixers, over-performers, nurses, women
WHAT YOU’RE FEELING IS NOT PERMANENT. IT’S NOT FOREVER. AND THERAPY CAN HELP.
Feel free to reach out to set up a free consultation. Please allow several business days for a response.
Please email mwardtherapy@gmail.com with the following information:
Name:
Email:
Phone:
Location:
How you heard about Mirror Lake:
What you would like to focus on in therapy:
When you’re available for sessions:
For a free phone consult first, some times for a short call:
Mirror Lake Therapy is a solo private practice and is not able to respond to mental health crises. Whether you are an existing client or expressing initial interest: if you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call or text 988 to speak to a crisis counselor. Counselors from 988 are available 24/7 and the service is completely free. If you are experiencing a general emergency, please call 911.
