Rachel Bastien-Chilson, LCSW

Rachel Bastien-Chilson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 11 years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, depression, and major life changes. She focuses on listening first, then working with each person to find small, manageable steps forward. Sessions aim to be direct and humane, with room for honesty and a little humor when it fits. Her style is collaborative and strengths-based. Rachel helps clients notice patterns that once helped them cope but now get in the way. She balances practical problem-solving with reflective work on emotions and relationships. Conversations can be inward and reflective one week, and focused on concrete goals the next. Rachel brings experience from mental health and crisis work in New York. She pays attention to the whole of a person’s story while staying grounded in what matters now. She often weaves in earlier life experiences when those stories help explain present reactions. People come to her for a wide range of concerns including caregiving stress, chronic illness and pain, adoption and foster care issues, attachment and abandonment worries, cancer-related distress, and aging and geriatric issues. She supports people coping with blended family dynamics, communication struggles, and control or commitment worries. Therapy with Rachel moves at a pace that feels safe for each person. The work is practical, honest, and aimed at building clearer self-understanding and more useful ways of living. She aims to help people notice their resilience and use it to make steady changes.

Evidence-informed approaches and online care

Rachel’s work draws on evidence-based therapeutic techniques that help people change patterns and manage difficult emotions. One common approach she uses focuses on identifying and shifting unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns that feed anxiety and depression, helping clients test new ways of responding in daily life. Another method centers on strengthening emotional awareness and attachment-related patterns so people can better understand how past relationships shape current reactions, which can be useful for grief, abandonment, and caregiver stress.

Deciding which approach to use is collaborative. Rachel works with each person to match methods to their goals, needs, and pace. She adjusts plans over time so the work stays relevant as insights and circumstances change.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the current session options before booking since specific formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit appointments into busy schedules, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when that suits someone’s routine. It can also let people keep continuity of care through life changes. Rachel and other licensed professionals will help determine how to structure sessions to meet practical needs and therapeutic goals.