Mary Patricia (MP) Reed, MA

Most of my work is with clients whose emotional intensity has become more than they can manage with the tools they currently have. That can look very different depending on the person and the age. With kids, it might be the child whose meltdowns are escalating in a way the family cannot ride out. With teens, it might be the teenager whose feelings come on fast and big and who needs concrete skills to navigate them. With adults, it might be a long-running pattern of relationships that ignite and detonate, or a nervous system that has been on high alert for years.

I integrate DBT-informed work because the skills work. Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness are practical. You can use them on a Tuesday in the parking lot. I teach them, we practice them in session, and we work on the deeper reasons the skills are hard.

I also work with the body. Talking is not enough for many of the clients I see, especially when trauma is in the picture. Somatic and movement-based work brings the rest of the system into the room. For young clients, that often means play and movement together; for adults, it might mean specific somatic interventions woven into the work.

With couples, I draw on the Gottman Method, a research-based framework I trust. Couples therapy with me tends to be active: we work on specific patterns, we develop skills together, and we make space for what is harder to name.