Mindful Mental Health Therapy in Takoma Park, MD and Online
Hello and Welcome! My name is Orly Jalowski. I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Takoma Park, Maryland.
I provide individual therapy to adults of all ages. I warmly invite you to explore these pages to see if we might be a good fit to work together.
A Safe Perch is a place for you to take charge of your mental health in an environment of comfort, support, and acceptance.
Caring for your mental, emotional, and psychological health is integral to your overall health. Unfortunately, when your inner world has become a source of fear and anxiety, rather than a source of peace, it is difficult to feel secure or healthy.
If you are feeling scared, overwhelmed, worried, or unsure of your next step, perhaps you too may benefit from some time in a safe perch.
I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Maryland (license #LC7605). I received my Bachelor’s Degree from New York University in Linguistics and Languages. I received my Master’s Degree from The University of the District of Columbia in Mental Health Counseling. I worked in community mental health settings before openings my practice in Takoma Park in 2018. I have been happily serving the Takoma Park and surrounding communities since then.
I grew up mostly in Brooklyn, NY, lived briefly in Chicago, took a year off to travel, and have lived in the DMV area for over 20 years.
I continue to grow as a therapist through ongoing trainings, a dedicated personal meditation practice, and implementing the very skills and tools I share with my clients.
My job is to make myself obsolete! I help my clients figure out what’s going on, help them make the profound and sustainable changes they want to make, and teach them the tools to maintain those changes over time on their own. I have worked with an incredibly diverse array of clients over the course of close to 15 years in the field, through individual, family, couples, and group counseling. I have helped clients address a variety of behavioral and emotional concerns including:
Over the course of my career, I have also built an expertise in helping clients do one important thing:
Strengthen their relationship with themselves!
Through learning how to implement therapeutic tools and skills, you will finally be able to productively manage your relationship to your feelings, thoughts, impulses, compulsions, and addictions – simply, to be a better friend to yourself.
Life is hard and everything is easier when you have a friend beside you.
Can you honestly say that you are a friend to yourself?
If the answer is no, then let me use my expertise to help you change that answer to a yes. The friendship with yourself is the most crucial one in your life because it’s the one that will open you up to all the other healthy and satisfying relationships that you crave but may be having difficulty starting or sustaining. And it is the one that will allow you to meet the goals and dreams that you have for yourself, whatever those may be.
What can you expect in our sessions?
We begin by getting to know one another. The first step is for us to slowly develop an alliance built on trust, mutual respect, and commitment to the therapeutic process. This is important because the research shows that the therapeutic alliance between therapist and client is a critical component of successful therapy. It is extremely important that you feel comfortable and safe with me as our comfort level together will have a deep impact on your therapy outcomes.
That means that the most crucial aspect of my job is to make sure that you feel safe, accepted, heard, and understood.
My Therapeutic Approach
I typically use a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness frameworks. Both have been well documented (see here and here) as evidence-based approaches for a variety of mental health concerns. I will thoroughly explain everything we do and questions are always encouraged and welcome!
This work reveals hidden patterns, dynamics, and habits that underlie the symptoms you may be experiencing. This process does take time, but in return, it leads to true and sustainable change.
My style is semi-structured, meaning that you will be doing most of the talking while I actively and deeply listen. I will also guide the discussion to make our time together productive and ensure that we have continuity from week to week so that you have a good sense of where you are in the overall process and what we’re working on each week. In most sessions, I will also provide you with information and guidance on strategies that you can implement between our sessions to make the time we spend together highly transformative.
Whether you have engaged in therapy before or if this will be your first time, we will build on your existing knowledge, experience, successes, and strengths and find ways to utilize them in areas of your life where you are feeling challenged or are struggling.
I place a strong emphasis on multi-cultural counseling practices. Why is this important? Because our racial identity, gender, religion, sexual identity, sexual orientation, abilities, and so forth are interwoven facets of our lived experiences. We are sometimes aware, sometimes not consciously aware, of how these various intersecting dimensions play out as part of both our struggle and our healing. I do the crucial work of regularly examining my own intersectionality. I look at the ways in which I am both impacted by and complicit in systems of privilege. I understand and acknowledge that mental health does not exist in a vacuum. Wherever our various identities may cross, I will meet you with curiosity and openness.
Finding the right therapist can be a confusing, frustrating, and overwhelming process. Making the choice to become vulnerable with someone can feel truly frightening. If after perusing these pages, you feel that you may want to take that next step with me, I want you to know that I hold your decision with a deep sense of respect and I take with utmost care the responsibility that you entrust with me. I try to be transparent and honest in this website to give you a sense of what working with me might be like. A consultation will also give you an extended opportunity to assess our compatibility in working together.
My office is located at 6411 Orchard Avenue. The small, office building sits on a serene, quiet street across from a community garden. It is convenient to major roads, including New Hampshire Avenue and University Blvd, and not far from the Beltway.
The entrance to my office is through the parking lot, the door on the LEFT. When you arrive, please have a seat and I will come out to greet you at our scheduled session time.
There is free parking available in the small lot adjacent to the building as well as plentiful free street parking.