ALANA DURAND, LMSW
What is my style as a therapist?
Grounded
Curious
Warm
Direct
Occasionally irreverent (healing has room for humor)
What is my therapeutic approach?
Short answer: somatic + relational
Long answer?
I think healthy relationships can heal us. The relationship you and I create with each other will be a place for exploration, security, trust, and care. It will inform and be informed by all the other relationships in your life, past and present. In that way, we will be co-creating a “blueprint” of sorts — one that can deepen your personal insight and inform meaningful relational changes in the rest of your life.
I also think sometimes talk therapy isn’t enough. So many people are smart and self-aware and still stuck in the same patterns of behavior and the same experience of suffering. Something that may differentiate the work we do from your experiences with other therapists is the way we move through those intellectual road blocks.
I’m going to hold your hand when I say this… the answer might not be in your head. It might be in your body, in your deeper sense of Self. My approach is deeply informed by mindfulness-based techniques and by an evidence-based approach called Internal Family Systems (IFS). In places where you find yourself feeling stuck, I may prompt and guide what IFS refers to as a “parts exploration”, which will allow you to connect to your needs and experiences on a more soulful level. I also regularly incorporate guided meditation, inner child work, journaling prompts, and other experiential exercises, that allow us to move toward new levels of depth and insight. All of this is always and only with your active consent.
What does that all mean?
I bring my training and experience as a therapist, you bring your singularly and uniquely lived experience as a human.
Most importantly: as we work together, we can check in about what is helpful and what is challenging so you feel confident you’re getting the most out of your time.
What modalities do I use primarily?
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Psychoanalytic Theory
Why did I become a therapist?
To borrow from words wiser than my own: the pain is not your fault, but the healing is your responsibility. It is deeply meaningful for me to guide my clients towards creating expansive, connected, fulfilling lives.
What do I do in my spare time?
Read (for my own book club, for my personal interests, and for my professional development)
Move my body (pilates, cycling, long walks, deep stretching)
Go out dancing in New York (I’m partial to a disco ball)
Spend quality time (nurturing meaningful relationships and spending mindful time alone)
Watch almost anything Bravo produces (for me, a fascinating combo of sociological intrigue and escapism)
Where was I educated?
New York University, Master’s Degree
Northeastern University, Bachelor’s Degree
The proverbial streets of Long Island, Boston, New York City, and small visits to countries around the world — I believe that lived experience and what I call “a la carte learning” can be as impactful as formal education
Where do I currently practice?
In 2023 I joined a values-aligned practice run by Grace Dickman, LCSW called Real Therapy. We are a small, but mighty team of 3 clinicians. We hold space for each other, support each other’s client work, and work together to create meaningful events and offerings. To learn more, browse the practice website HERE.