Barbara Keeler
Barbara A. Keeler, LICSW, is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Newburyport, MA, providing outpatient psychotherapy to men and women over 18 suffering from painful moods, distressing thoughts, unhappy relationships, and self-defeating behavior.
Offering individual treatment to:
- Decrease depression, anxiety, fearfulness, tension, irritability
- Increase self-esteem and self-confidence
- Improve relationships
- Decrease substance abuse
- Enhance body-image
Life is too short to be burdened by negative thoughts and feelings that undermine your mood, self-respect and relationships. In a comfortable, confidential setting, we will study together the nature and causes of your pain. Drawing upon my many years of training and experience, I blend proven psychodynamic, mindfulness and cognitive approaches to guide you towards a fuller, happier life.
Services Provided
- Short-term work using insight, cognitive and other mindfulness techniques to explore current stressors, identify reaction patterns and develop better coping strategies.
- Longer term psychodynamic psychotherapy drawing on relational and mindfulness approaches as well as attachment theory for a deeper exploration of recurrent problem areas, their roots in the past and more successful ways of responding.
- Substance abuse treatment, focusing on achieving and maintaining recovery, developing insight into triggers for abuse, and a range of relapse prevention strategies.
Whatever type of therapy is right for you, our work will significantly deepen your understanding of the emotional, cognitive and behavioral patterns that your life experiences have shaped. As you become steadily more aware of who you are and what you truly want, we will identify specific ways to overcome the painful thoughts and emotions creating obstacles in your way. The overall result of our work together will be more positive ways of thinking, feeling and behaving which will continue to grow over your life time.
About Barbara
- Tulane University, School of Social Work, M.S.W. cum laude.
- Mass. Mental Health Center, research social worker studying the neuropsychology of depressions and manias.
- North Essex Mental Health Center, Principal Clinical Social Worker providing evaluations and on-going individual, couples and group psychotherapy to a broad range of clients as well as supervision and emergency service coverage.
- Boston Institute for Psychotherapy, certificate program for indepth individual and group psychodynamic psychotherapy.
- McLean Hospital Appleton Outpatient Treatment Center, providing individual and group treatment of substance abuse.
- Independent study entitled “Living With Looks” examining the personal and interpersonal impact of physical appearance, presented at professional and public forums.
At heart, my therapy is psychodynamic and relational, viewing who we are today to be a result of all our life experiences and especially our interactions with the people we're closest to. Much of my understanding is based on attachment theory, a carefully researched framework identifying how relationship patterns evolve and impact behavior over time. To this core, I have added insights generated by modern scientific research into the mind and brain. Particularly useful information has come from studies into the nature of our emotions and what creates contentedness versus negativity, and into our mind's ability to improve itself by deliberately changing how we think. By blending the contributions from all these sources and more, I can offer a treatment approach to match each person's individual needs.
Location
One Merrimac Street, Suite 17
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-465-6585
My office is centrally located in downtown historic Newburyport. The building borders the municipal parking lot and has an elevator; public transportation is nearby.
From Route 95: Take Exit 57 and follow signs towards downtown Newburyport. At about 2.5 miles, turn left onto Green Street, following signs to the downtown. After .2 mile, turn right into the municipal parking lot.
From Merrimac Street: Follow Merrimac Street towards the center of town; just past the flashing light at the bottom of Green Street, turn right into the municipal parking lot.
Once in the parking lot, look for the large brick building with the center entrance portico. Inside the building, go to the second floor, turn right through a hallway door and enter the second door on the right into Suite 17.
Contact Barbara
Phone: 978-465-6585
I offer day and evening appointments; please contact me to discuss a day and time that will work for you.
I accept many insurance plans, some of which appear below; if you don't see yours listed, please contact your company to determine if they will cover my services. For those who prefer the full privacy and control of your treatment that self-pay provides, I offer a sliding fee based on your financial circumstances.
Here is a partial list of the insurance companies that I accept:
- All BlueCross BlueShield plans
- Tufts Health Plan, commercial only
- Medicare
- HealthPlans, Inc.
- Optum/Allways
- United Healthcare
- United Behavioral Health
- Harvard Pilgrim
Individual therapy for depression, anxiety, substance abuse and relationship issues,
serving greater Newburyport and New Hampshire seacoast.