Deeper Dive
Who: My name is Lindsay Prichard, and I am a clinical social worker, therapist, and founder of Moon and Saturn Counseling. Professionally, I have worked with children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of clinical settings, including schools, community mental health centers, inpatient pediatric psychiatric units, and at Children's Hospital's Developmental Medicine Center, helping families dealing with ASD, ADHD, and other developmental disorders for over 17 years.
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Where: I practice in Newburyport, MA. I grew up in Washington, D.C., but settled in Massachusetts after attending college in New England with a stint in Chicago for graduate school.
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What: A graduate of Colby College and the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, I tailor my clinical approach to a person's individual needs and goals, using a variety of modalities, including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and social learning theory. I also talk about Taylor Swift often but only if you are into it. I offer individual and group counseling, in-person and virtually. I collaborate with excellent partners specializing in nursing, tutoring, reading disabilities, ABA, yoga, art therapy, and other specific modalities. I plan to offer community events with various therapeutic opportunities for my clients and community.
Why? I have always loved a lot of things that intersect with mental health [or healing]: mixtapes and soap operas (playlists and Bravo shows in modern speak), talking to people (a lot), and learning as much as I can about people and relationships––how they feel, what they think, how they act internally, individually, in families, in social groups, in communities, in cultures, in nations, in interaction with each other and so on and so on. I've always profoundly disliked seeing any person or living thing suffer, even though I know suffering is inevitable in the human experience. Still, it's always intrigued me––its discomfort, length, and severity, its trauma to experience and witness, its ability to permeate, its ability to dissipate and transmute into wisdom or sometimes acceptance.
How: I was drawn to sociology, psychology, and pop culture classes during my college years. I graduated in June 2001 with the desire to create documentaries. However, the world underwent a significant change that fall, leading to a series of peculiar temporary jobs. In 2002, I took on a teaching role at a parochial high school, where I taught first-years and seniors. At 22 years old, I had zero experience, found myself out of my depth, and vastly outnumbered. During my early teaching years, communities were inundated with prescription pain medication, contributing to the opioid crisis that ravaged these areas. I observed the profound impact on students and their families. Colleagues advised me not to smile until winter break to establish control in my classes. When I attempted this approach, someone threw a muffin at my head, prompting an epiphany. I realized I just needed to be myself, and I embraced smiling. Trusting my natural default setting, I began to connect, find common ground, and listen to these kids. Recognizing our shared humanity, I experienced a shift, and I enjoyed working with adolescents to help them navigate challenges and cope with difficult times and painful life experiences, rather than dictating what they should do. Motivated by this transformation, I opted to pursue graduate studies in clinical social work to become a counselor for kids, adolescents, and adults, utilizing my abilities to explore our collective experiences of feeling, experiencing, and finding peace or meaning in life's myriad facets.