The mission of The Well is to provide a safe space for participants to explore their emotions, develop resilience, and connect with others through personalized and creative approaches.

• Are you looking for an engaging, in-person counseling experience?

• Do you want to connect with other teens in deeper, more meaningful ways? 

• Do you want to strengthen your social skills?

• Have you tried traditional talk therapy and want something a little different?

• Are you interested in doing a deep dive into who you are and why you act/react the way you do?

• Do you like doing things with your hands and creating things? 

• Do you have some things in your life that you want to work through?

The Well is for teens who may or may not be experiencing some mental health challenges, such as anxiety or depression. It can be for teens who are just trying to navigate life, and are looking to belong to something that will help that feel easier and less lonely. 

The Well is not for teens who are in crisis, who need specialized therapeutic care, or who have recently attended a mental health facility. If this applies to you, it is important that you receive a higher level of care and experience some time of stability and support. Your safety and healing is the most important thing at this moment. The Well will be here for you when you are ready.

Humans are primarily social animals, regardless of our introversion or extroversion. We learn how to be our best selves through the feedback we get when interacting with others. We are just now seeing how the loss of crucial socialization during the pandemic has affected adolescents. In addition, studies are showing how cell phone use and excessive screen time have contributed to feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and a lack of meaning for adolescents. Group work allows participants to find support, acceptance and connection while building crucial communication, feedback and interpersonal skills. These skills will not only improve participation and build confidence at school and at home, but will be essential for future endeavors such as college and a career.

A few times during the year, Susan will offer a large group experience. Group experiences are crucial environments for teenagers to develop a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves, increasing feelings of inclusivity, shared vision, camaraderie and fun. The large group experiences will safely encourage participants to step outside of their comfort zones, try something different, develop new skills and connect more deeply with a larger group of teens. Participants will develop closer bonds and connect through their shared experience. This increases positive mental health, self-esteem, and interpersonal skills and adds an important layer to The Well as a whole. These large group experiences are fully optional and not required to participate in individual counseling or the small groups.

The cultural importance of hand crafting is well-known as a way for people to come together and develop new skills, strengthen community and build a larger-than-self sense of belonging and meaning. Therapists have effectively used art in sessions to help individuals express their emotions, work through traumatic experiences, and create insights. Using a creative medium of expression can help access buried emotions that might be harder to express verbally. At The Well, creative expression in the form of hand crafting is integrated into the therapeutic experience, combining traditional talk therapy while using the hands to craft and create. This "head-heart-hands" approach helps participants open up as they build connections through a shared creative experience. Hand crafting has the added benefits of reducing stress, increasing mindfulness, building practical skills and increasing competence and resilience. 

Hand crafts are chosen for their ease of skill acquisition, ability to maximize a "flow state," minimize distraction while talking, and create feelings of competency and enjoyment.

Linocutting

Wooden spoon carving

Knitting

Fire building

Clothing Embroidery

Painting

Trail construction

Candle dipping

Claywork

Nature Sculpture

Paper crafting

and more!

Small groups are like a mash-up of summer camp, after-school clubs and therapy. You get the benefits of counseling, while connecting in meaningful ways with other kids your age, creating amazing stuff with your hands, decreasing your stress and having fun doing cool things in a group where you are going to be accepted and celebrated for the unique, bizarre, fantastic you that you are.

Giving and receiving feedback

Conflict resolution

Effective communication

Emotional regulation

Distress tolerance

Ethics

Decision making

Problem-solving

Risk assessment

Identifying relationship healthy or unhealthy

Resilience

Assertiveness

Habit formation and goal setting

Managing stress

Mindfulness

The Well does not take health insurance at this time. However, an invoice can be provided that you can share with your insurance for reimbursement.

Individual and small group sessions will take place about 10 minutes from downtown Northampton in Florence, MA. The office space is cozy, with a variety of seating, lots of art supplies, a wood stove in the winter, a cat and a dog, and access to outdoor spaces such as a firepit and trails.

We are each in charge of who we want to be and how we will get there. It can be a lonely realization, and an empowering one. We have to reach deep down and decide what parts we love and what parts we want to change and help grow, or let go. The Well can represent a water well, and it can also represent wellness and healing. Even more, however, it represents that deep, calm well of strength and intuition within each of us where we know, ultimately, who we are and what we need to do.

Prioritizing yourself is important! But we understand that things come up. For individual counseling, we can reschedule. For small group sessions, if you miss more than three, we will need to evaluate if continuing is the right choice. For same-day cancellations for individual or small-groups, you will be charged half-fee for the session.

Parent/s/Caregivers can request to meet with Susan for a 30-minute parent consultation, with or without your teen, for $75. These sessions can begin in October, after I have had time to get to know your teen.

Individual Sessions are $150/week

Small Group are $60/week