Individual Therapy for Adults
Telehealth across Vermont and Massachusetts · Private pay
Telehealth individual therapy for adults in Massachusetts and Vermont, with Maxwell Crystal, LICSW. Sessions are 50 minutes by secure video and cost $175, private pay. The first step is a free 15-minute phone call.
Sometimes the most important work happens in a room with just one person.
Not because the problem belongs only to them — often it doesn't. But because understanding your own patterns, your own role in what's happening, and your own capacity to respond differently is where real change begins.
I work with individuals navigating situations that are genuinely complex — where the standard advice hasn't helped, where the same dynamics keep repeating, and where something more structured and honest is needed.
Who comes here
People in relational stress
Your relationship, your family, or your closest connections are a significant source of strain right now. Maybe a partner's behavior is affecting your stability. Maybe a family dynamic has worn you down over years. Maybe you keep ending up in the same kind of situation and you're not sure why.
Individual therapy with a relational focus can move things even when only one person is in the room. Understanding your own patterns — how you respond, what you tolerate, where your limits actually are — changes the dynamic whether or not anyone else changes with you.
People navigating anxiety and overthinking
You're functioning. You hold it together. But internally there's a constant current of second-guessing, replaying, and trying to think your way to certainty that never quite arrives.
This kind of anxiety is often relational at its root — shaped by the situations you're in and the dynamics you're navigating. We work on understanding what's sustaining it and building a different relationship to it. Not eliminating uncertainty, but reducing the amount of mental energy spent trying to.
People in or around recovery
You're working on your relationship with substances — whether that means early recovery, questioning your use, or navigating what life looks like as things shift. You want structured, honest therapy from someone who understands this territory without making it the only lens.
I work with individuals in this space regularly. My background in residential treatment means I've seen recovery from the inside out — what supports it, what undermines it, and what the relational piece actually requires.
People at a difficult transition point
A major life change has destabilized things — a loss, a career shift, a relationship ending, a move, a significant health event. The situation has changed but how you're operating hasn't caught up yet. You need a structured place to understand what's happening and build forward from it.
When someone else's crisis is the reason you're here
Many of the people I see individually aren't the one in crisis. They're the partner, parent, or adult child who has been holding things together around someone else's drinking, illness, or loss, and who has never had a room where the subject was them.
That's a large part of my individual work. You don't need the other person to change, or even to know you're here, to start.
Related reading:
What the work looks like
Individual therapy here is focused and structured. We're not going to process the same material indefinitely without movement.
We start by developing a clear picture of what's actually happening — the specific patterns, the recurring dynamics, the points where things reliably break down. Most people arrive with a sense of what's wrong but not a clear understanding of what's sustaining it. That's usually where the work begins.
From there, the work is practical. We build real changes — in how you respond, how you communicate, how you make decisions — that hold up outside the session.
The approach draws on cognitive behavioral frameworks, systems thinking, and motivational techniques. But more than any specific model, it's guided by what actually moves the specific situation you're in.
What I bring to this work
Before private practice, I was Clinical Director of Sana at Stowe, a residential program treating co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, and Bereavement Program Coordinator for BAYADA Hospice. I also worked in community mental health. Those settings taught me what helps people under real strain, and what only sounds like it should.
Because much of my practice is with couples and families, I bring a systems lens to individual work too: not just what you're feeling, but what role you've been playing in the lives around you, and what changing it would take.
Common questions about individual therapy
What approach do you use?
Structured and direct. I draw on cognitive behavioral approaches, systems thinking, and motivational interviewing, adjusted to what's useful for your situation rather than applied as a formula. We name what we're working on and track whether it's changing.
How long does individual therapy take?
It depends on what you're working on, but this isn't open-ended. Most people see meaningful shifts within a few months of consistent weekly work, and we'll check together along the way whether it's moving.
Do you work with people who are drinking, using, or in recovery?
Yes — whether you're questioning your use, in early recovery, or years in. I also work with process addictions such as gambling and compulsive sexual behavior. If you need a higher level of care, like detox or residential treatment, I'll help you find it. Addiction and recovery →
Can I start on my own and bring my partner or family in later?
Often, yes. Some people start individually and bring a partner or family member in later, if and when it makes sense. We'd talk through how that would work before making any change. See couples therapy and family therapy.
Do you take insurance?
No. I'm private pay: $175 for a 50-minute individual session. If your plan has out-of-network benefits, I can provide a superbill, and HSA and FSA cards work. Pricing and payment options →
Can I work with you if I live outside Massachusetts or Vermont?
No. I'm licensed in Massachusetts and Vermont, so you need to be in one of those states during sessions. If you're elsewhere, I'm glad to help you think about what to look for where you are.
Fees and how to start
$175 per 50-minute individual session; 90-minute sessions are $225
Private pay. Superbills available for out-of-network reimbursement, HSA and FSA cards accepted, and a limited number of sliding-scale spots
Telehealth by secure video, for anyone in Massachusetts or Vermont — from the North Shore and Greater Boston to Stowe and Burlington
How to start:
Free 15-minute phone call. Book a time and I'll call you.
A clear direction. You'll know whether I'm the right fit and what we'd focus on first.
Begin therapy. Structured weekly sessions focused on the pattern you're in, not a generic process.