Harvard-Trained Therapist in Durham, NC — Individual & Couples Therapy
For more than twenty years, I’ve sat with individuals and couples in moments large and small — in the aftermath of sudden change, in the slow work of loosening what’s been tangled for years, or simply in the ordinary need for a space to reflect on the week just past. Depending on what’s needed, we might lean on practical tools, sustained conversation, or just the relief of a warm, unhurried space. My office, washed with light and lined with books, is in Durham; I meet with people across the Triangle - Chapel Hill, Raleigh — as well as online throughout North Carolina.
Therapy for Anxiety, Relationships, and Grief in Durham - Attending to the Whole of a Life
I work with a range of issues, including
- anxiety that won't let up,
- depression that flattens the days,
- relationships stuck in the same loops,
- grief that lingers long after loss,
- life transitions that rewrite the map,
- questions of identity and belonging,
- the restless search for meaning, even in a good life.
In all of these, we attend to the whole complexity of being human. It isn’t only about symptoms or labels, but about how life actually feels in the day-to-day. The work is to name what presses most and to make more room around it.
Depth-Oriented Therapy for Meaningful Change
I believe in the particular alchemy that happens when two people give sustained, honest attention to what matters most. My work draws from psychodynamic and mindfulness traditions, among others, but the real change happens in the space between us — where truths get spoken aloud, patterns named, and something unexpected can take shape.
That process isn’t all solemn. With compassion and humor, we’ll follow both the pressing questions that brought you here and the quieter currents underneath them. Sometimes the work is tracing the private logic that’s been steering your choices for years; other times, it’s just noticing how a stray thought can rearrange an afternoon. There can be laughter as well as insight, relief alongside recognition. I’m not here to fix you, but to understand you — and in that understanding, help what no longer serves you begin to let go.
My Approach to Therapy — Responsive, Integrative, Grounded in Durham
Therapy, as I see it, is never one method. My approach is integrative and responsive, drawing on different traditions as the work suggests. At times it means psychodynamic exploration — tracing how the past shapes the present. At times it calls for the tools of cognitive-behavioral work, when a thought-pattern needs interrupting. Mindfulness practices may help you pause and notice what might otherwise carry you away. And Narrative Therapy can open space between who you are and what you’ve lived — loosening the grip of old stories and making room to imagine new ones.
Rather than fitting you into a model, I weave these approaches in the ways that serve you best.
My Approach to Couples Therapy — Restoring Connection, Repairing Cycles
Couples therapy is never a single formula. The work is integrative, drawing from different traditions depending on what the relationship calls for. Sometimes it’s Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) — slowing conflict down enough to see the patterns of pursuit and withdrawal, anger and retreat, that leave both partners stranded. Sometimes it’s the tools of Imago Therapy, helping couples hear the echoes of earlier wounds in the arguments they keep circling. The Gottman approach, with its practical ways of de-escalating conflict and building steadier communication, can also be useful when partners need something concrete to hold onto. And when one person isn’t sure they want to stay, Discernment Counseling creates a short-term space to pause and sort through the options — to step out of the cycle of arguing and avoidance, and to consider honestly whether the next chapter is about repair, renewal, or separation.
Rather than pushing you toward one outcome, my role is to help you see the cycles you’re caught in and to open the possibility of choosing differently — whether that means repair, renewal, or, at times, a thoughtful separation.
Individual & Couples Therapy in Durham, NC — A Room Washed with Light, Lined with Books
My practice is for people who value privacy and depth. The room is washed with light, a space for an unhurried conversation in which the drift of thought is allowed to take its course — the kind of therapy that can open onto change, or a life less burdened. And sometimes, along the way, there is the unexpected relief of speaking freely to someone who listens.
Online Therapy Across North Carolina — Private, Personalized Care Wherever You Are
I work with people across North Carolina — in the Triangle (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh) and beyond: Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Asheville. Whether in person or online, the work is the same: unhurried, attentive, carried with depth.
Education and Background
My graduate education began at Harvard Divinity School, where I studied theology and the questions that press upon a life. I later trained in clinical practice at Smith College and completed a two-year clinical fellowship at Harvard University. That education—existential as well as clinical—continues to shape how I listen and how I understand the lives brought into the room: lives searching for significance and pressed by the stubborn demands of daily life. The work of therapy, as I see it, is to make room for both—the hunger for meaning and the necessity of finding ways to live.
Scheduling Your First Session
I’m usually able to see new clients within three weeks, often sooner. Sessions are weekday mornings, 7:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., offered both online and in person. If those times don’t work right now, you can join my waiting list.
What Clients Say
“I had not realized that I was sleepwalking; I had not hoped for transformation.”
“She achieves a good balance between listening to my stories and giving me feedback… She’s good at keeping track of what we’ve been talking about, even if it’s been a long time between sessions.”
“With Carolyn’s help I was able to face my new challenges head on… Today, the anxiety and brooding have subsided and I feel far more centered than I have in years.”
- shared by former clients. Read more testimonials
