About Mandie Maurer
A more active, engaged kind of therapy
I tend to work best with people who are thoughtful, psychologically minded, and interested in understanding themselves in a deeper way.
Many of my clients already have a fair amount of insight. They may understand where certain patterns came from, recognize their attachment dynamics, or know why they react strongly in particular situations. The difficulty is that understanding something intellectually does not always change the emotional response.
My style is active and collaborative. I listen closely, but I also offer feedback, point out patterns, ask questions, and tell you what I’m noticing. I don’t see therapy as a process where you talk and I simply reflect things back to you. We are trying to understand what is happening and work with it together.
How I Work
Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts work are central to my approach. I also draw from attachment-based, psychodynamic, somatic, CBT, and DBT-informed approaches depending on what seems most useful. I've been practicing my favorite modality, Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, for almost a decade now; and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) (developed for those with Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD) for longer.
I’m especially interested in the patterns underneath symptoms: the parts of us that become afraid, ashamed, self-critical, overwhelmed, avoidant, intensely attached, or determined to stay in control.
Rather than treating these reactions as irrational or trying to get rid of them, I’m interested in understanding what they are doing, how they developed, and what might help them become less extreme.
My work often focuses on:
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Childhood trauma, attachment, and recurring relationship patterns
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Emotional intensity and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
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Self-esteem, shame, and self-criticism
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Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts work
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Identity, belonging, and major life transitions
My practice is LGBTQ+ and trans affirming, as well as poly/ENM and kink affirming.
An International Perspective
I began my psychotherapy work in Tokyo in 2018, where I founded my first practice and worked extensively with international and expatriate communities. I have also lived in a number of countries across Asia and Europe.
Living and working internationally has given me a particular interest in identity, belonging, cultural adjustment, and the ways our relationships and sense of self can shift across different environments.
I enjoy working with expats, internationally mobile clients, and people whose lives or identities do not fit especially neatly into conventional categories.
Depth and Practicality
I don’t think therapy has to choose between understanding something deeply and helping you function differently in everyday life.
Sometimes it is useful to understand where a pattern came from. Sometimes you need a concrete way to manage an intense emotional reaction. Sometimes we need to pay attention to what is happening in a relationship in real time. And sometimes the most important work is with the part of you that already understands everything intellectually but still feels or reacts in the same way.
The goal is not to become less emotional or to eliminate difficult parts of yourself. It is to understand your patterns more deeply, become less controlled by them, and have more flexibility in how you respond.
Interested in Working Together?
I offer online psychotherapy for adults in Illinois and Michigan, as well as clients living in Japan.
You can use my online calendar to request a free consultation or an initial therapy session. If you don’t see a time that works for you, please reach out. I sometimes have additional or upcoming availability that isn’t shown online.