Mary (Ellen) Rand

Hello, I am Mary Ellen Rand, a licensed mental health counselor and EMDRIA-certified EMDR therapist. I would like to offer my skills and knowledge to help you manage your life. I have been in practice for 16 years and helped people of all ages with a wide variety of problems and desired objectives.

My approach

My primary approach to therapy is Person-Centered. That means you are in charge of your treatment. My role is to understand your motivations, the obstacles in your way due to the events you've experienced, and how you can best respond to them. I like using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Buddhist Mindfulness Training. They both provide tools for training your mind, choosing how to focus it, and enjoying the present more. I tend to keep session Solutions Focused and find the SF Therapy approach helps you connect to your strengths. EMDR is my preferred modality for trauma-focused treatment because of its effectiveness and ability to yield lasting results. Recently I’ve been training in using Play Therapy which activates creative problem-solving for both children and adults.

My focus

I have worked with a wide variety of clients from children, teens to adults and seniors. My clients have been recovering from addiction, resolving past trauma, overcoming crippling anxiety and depression, struggling with OCD, or problematic relationships, or having difficulty adjusting to changes in their life.

My communication style

I know that for therapy to be successful, you need to trust the person you are working with. So it's my job to create a safe and soothing environment in which you can feel at ease and establish that trust to do your work. I also know that it takes motivation for anyone to change how they approach their life. Change can be hard and can be scary and you can only take that journey toward change if that motivation comes from inside yourself. So I use a gentle approach so that you hear your own voice, not mine. At best I can be a good mirror and an encouraging support.

My journey to mental healthcare

I was first trained as a counselor early in my life with focus on using gestalt, humanism, meditation, art therapies, and psychodrama. But the jobs I found didn’t let me do the work I wanted. I left the profession and spent much of my life working as a landscape architect. About 2012 I felt a calling to come back to mental health work for two reasons: I wanted to do work that had meaning for me and I wanted to be of help to others, especially those overcoming trauma. By then I had overcome my own difficulties in life and wanted to use my life experiences and skills to help others. I derive so much joy now from being witness to the resilience, and determination of so many people who find their voice and their way forward. That’s what matters to me now.

My goals for you

I offer my skills to help you solve the problems that hold you back in life. Working collaboratively, my role is to empower you and help you find deep joy and lasting stability no matter what circumstances you have experienced. I begin by helping you identify the problems which will be the primary focus of treatment, the goals you want to reach, and then break the goals down into the steps and the interventions that may be most helpful. I like using the SMART approach to goal setting. That means making sure each objective is: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic and Timely. We will refer back to these often to make sure we are staying on track with the reasons you sought treatment.

My first session with you

During your first session, we will get to know each other, go over the expectations you have of me as your therapist, and those I have of you as my client. We will address confidentiality and safety, communication, and any other relevant information. Then we will identify the problems you want to focus on and some of the context and background issues that contribute to them. Most importantly is that we will set goals for treatment and how best to meet them. I usually give homework so you can continue to make progress on your own between sessions. At the end of sessions, I like to summarize and make sure we are meeting the needs you had when seeking therapy.