Maxwell Sklansky, LPC Associate

I rely primarily on psychoanalytic theory to inform what therapy looks, sounds, and feels like. With every patient I emphasize the importance of discussing the subtleties of their experience, such as dreams, fantasies, memories, silences, and the nuances of what is experienced physically/somatically during a session. This process allows the therapeutic dyad to discover what lies outside of awareness and enrich the possibilities of what can be experienced in a relationship.

At the intake session, it is a chance for you to get a feel for what it’s like to work together, and to speak honestly about the many feelings that can be stirred by deciding to begin therapy. I hold the aspiration that for each person therapy becomes a uniquely creative, playful, and a lively encounter where new discoveries are made through experience rather than an explanation or insight from an expert. I hold the belief that patients are always the experts when it comes to the intricacies of their emotional lives, and I can offer to facilitate a deeper exploration of the life being lived.

Past patients have mentioned the amount of space that is felt in the room and the feeling of being understood and listened to. Some folks have talked about therapy as a chance to become familiar with the expression of emotions that were not touched before, and finally get to be explored. Others mentioned that they appreciated how someone in the therapist role has had the respect to be honest with them about conflict, confusion, misunderstanding, and discomfort going on in the room.

Credentials

Education

Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Seminary of the Southwest, 2025

Personal Interests

During graduate school I worked as a bread baker and am continuing to finding new parallels between the process of making sourdough and engaging in psychotherapy – both require slowing down!

I grew up keeping a dream journal and find it ironic that working with dreams has become a focal point of the work I do as a therapist since it’s been a lifelong interest. I’ve found having personal experience with the power of dreamwork lends itself to better help others navigate that aspect of their experience.