Pooja Khariwal

I created Illuminate Psychotherapy to offer meaningful and skilled psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is a deeply personal process and requires consistent and challenging work.

Every individual has a unique internal world. Our struggles and “stuckness” are complicated and layered. If you feel stuck and are yearning to be “unstuck,” we can work together! Being stuck can present as lack of meaning, feeling disconnected from yourself, having unfulfilling or unsatisfying relationships, challenges with transitions, deep dilemmas, mood troubles, and constant worry among many others.

I use an integrative approach with psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive behavioral, and process oriented elements along with the critical impact of culture and diversity to understand your complex and unique world. In this approach, many of our difficulties can be seen as unhealthy ways of understanding ourselves and others. These patterns of understanding were probably helpful in the past but have stopped being helpful. We will have the amazing opportunity to identity these patterns and transform them in psychotherapy!

With your permission, we will explore the unfamiliar and distressing to make them familiar and less distressing. We will focus on the present and the past depending on its relevance to the current problems. We will collaboratively focus on the content (what you talk about) and the process (how you talk about things and relate to them). Most importantly, we will add the element of healing and strive for experiential change or feeling differently. Our goal will be a fundamental shift in your understanding and experience of yourself and others rather than just reducing symptoms.

I will continually strive to be present, genuine, empathetic and compassionate. I will also gently challenge you and stay with you in the scary and unknown. I will encourage us to cultivate curiosity every step of the way. I will welcome your feedback on how things are going and what we can do to move in the direction of your choice. I regularly update myself with advancements in theory and research and incorporate these in our work. My work in psychotherapy is a reflection of my absolute commitment to hope and healing!

I provide both face-to-face and telepsychology/telehealth (online) options.