Meredith Nocek, LMHC

"Meredith was my therapist for 10 months. It took me several tries to find her, and I’m forever grateful that I did. Meredith gave me a safe, welcoming space to talk about whatever it was I needed or wanted to talk about – whether it was stress at work, family issues, mental health struggles, past trauma, painful memories or even a fun weekend that I really wanted to talk about. Sometimes we talked about the hard stuff, other times we kept it light and just talked – kind of like you’d talk to a friend. While I didn’t always love coming to therapy (and my attitude in those sessions showed), I knew I was walking into a safe space with a therapist who saw the WHOLE of me – not just the parts that other people chose to see. While Meredith is a great therapist, we ultimately parted ways. She couldn’t give me the help that I really needed and felt I’d benefit from therapy and skills groups at a clinic or larger practice. Which is 100% fair – but I didn’t agree with the way she went about it (via email, with no notice, and didn’t give me time to find a new therapist before she stopped seeing me). So, here’s my take: If you’re looking for a safe, warm, welcoming place to talk about day-to-day struggles – things like stress from work or relationship (romantic, friendship, family) problems – or if you struggle with not-overly-severe mental health issues (think: anxiety, generalized depression), then Meredith is probably the right therapist for you. But if you struggle with really intense, overwhelming emotions; have severe mental health issues; deal with suicidal thoughts; have past traumatic events you still have to work through and need a therapist who can deal with the really hard stuff – Meredith probably ISN’T the right therapist for you. That’s not to say she’s not a good therapist. Because she absolutely is. But she’s a private practice and not in a clinic setting, and she doesn’t have access to the resources she’d need to help with those issues. Sure, she can refer you to McLean Hospital, the Boston Child Study Center, or another clinic – but alone, working with Meredith probably won’t be enough. In the 10 months we worked together, I made so much progress. I’ve worked through a lot of issues, approach my relationships/friendships differently, see life through a different lens and learned skills to help me cope with the tough things life constantly throws my way. Meredith is a fantastic therapist and can help you tremendously – if you’re the right fit for her. But personally, she failed me as a patient and left me hanging with no opportunity to find someone else to work with. And given that I fall into the latter group above, that’s not a good place to be. I’ll always be thankful Meredith, and I could never thank her enough for everything – from seeing the whole of me, to making the referral to the BHP at McLean, to the emails/phone calls/extra sessions to make sure I was okay. She was my strongest support system for the entire time we worked together. And for that, "thank you" just isn't enough."