Bryony Smith, LMHC & Board Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach

My name is pronounced BRY-uh-nee. I use she/her pronouns.

(Why pronouns matter)

I believe you have the inner resources needed to help you experience more ease inside.

Together, we can (re)discover and utilize them.

Welcome!

I’m a psychotherapist offering either individual counseling or coaching services.

—> My practice is currently full.

How I can help

I specialize in supporting individuals with:

  • depression

  • anxiety

  • grief

  • life transitions

  • intrusive thoughts

  • post-concussion-related mental health issues

  • cognitive decline (dementia)

  • loved ones with dementia

  • intergenerational trauma

  • aging & end-of-life issues.


My counseling and coaching can help you find greater meaning in your life and an increased sense of well-being.

I help motivated individuals integrate and find healing from the past while building greater emotional resilience and psychological/mental flexibility.

My skills

I am an Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level 2 trained therapist (through the IFS Institute) on track for certification (2026) and am also a Board Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach.

My training, studies, and memberships include:

  • A master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Westfield State University, 2019 (and a bachelor’s from UMass Amherst, University Without Walls, in Mental Health & Development, 2015)

  • Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), in Massachusetts

  • Somatic/body-centered emotional/trauma healing practices (including multiple live trainings with Dr. Arielle Schwartz, 2021 and 2022) and Polyvagal exercises

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level 2 with Ann Sinko, Ralph Cohen, and Margaret Conley, Level 1 with Leslie Petruk and Gwen Hurd, Program Assistant for Level 1 training (with Carmen Jimenez-Pride and David Kitchings, 2025), and on track for IFS Certification (expected May 2026)

  • IFS Level 3 (forthcoming) April 2026 with Cece Sykes and Margaret Conley

  • Certified Effortless Mindfulness Facilitator (multi-month training with Loch Kelly)

  • Psychosynthesis Coaching (12-month) training, Subpersonality Parts Work training 2020

  • EMDR (EMDRIA training with Mark Nickerson, 2019) and The Flash Technique (Trauma Institute, Dr. Greenwald, 2023)

  • Supporting Trans & Nonbinary Clients with Sociopolitical Distress with Dr. Sebastian Barr (2025)

  • Clinical Trauma Professional (PESI 46-hour CE training with Janina Fisher, PhD, 2023)

  • Member of IDHA (Institute for the Development of Human Arts) - Transformative mental health, collective liberation, anti-oppression, and decolonizing mental health

  • Member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy

  • Member of the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association (MaMHCA), since 2017

  • Bioenergetic Workshop/training at the Findhorn Foundation (Scotland) 1991

  • and over 30 years of Insight meditation (mindfulness) training and practice (completing over 45 week-long silent meditation retreats, starting in 1991).

    • Hundreds of hours of additional (interactive, live) IFS training with Derek Scott (January - April 2023), Martha Sweezy, Frank Anderson, Bonnie Weiss, Chris Burris, Bob Falconer, Loch & Paige Kelly, and several others, as well as professional ongoing IFS consultation (and my own ongoing IFS parts work)

    • Communication skills coaching (Nonviolent Communication or NVC)

    • AEDP-informed (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy - a highly relational model), Deliberate Practice workshop with Natasha Prenn. in May 2025

    • EMDR Therapy and the Treatment Of Complex PTSD In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Abuse and Neglect (week-long, live training) with Deborah Korn, PsyD in 2023

    • Facilitated an 8-week Grief Support Group in 2022

    • Embodied Experiential Dreamwork Certification (11-month training with Dr. Leslie Ellis, 2022) and nightmare treatment training

    • Co-facilitated a DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Skills group (2019-2020)

    • ServiceNet, Inc, (Community Mental Health Clinic) Holyoke & Greenfield, MA – Outpatient Mental Health Counselor, September 2018 to October 2021.

    • I participated in Dr. Judson Brewer's fMRI research studies at Yale University, for experienced meditators, in 2009 (and in 2011). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1112029108

    • Insight Meditation Society (IMS) Staff Board Member on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (with Joseph Goldstein et al) from 2013-2016

    • Retreat Manager at Insight Meditation Society (IMS), Barre, MA (2008-2019)

    • Penland School of Crafts Registrar & Student Support (2002-2008), NC

    • Guided imagery (or active imagination) workshops and training at the Findhorn Foundation (Scotland) in 1989 & 1991, and 144-hour Psychosynthesis Life Coach training 2021-2022

    • Art Therapy Conference in 2007 (Boone, NC) with Paulus Berensohn, Deborah Koff-Chapin, and Paolo Knill

    • Holotropic Breathwork 2-day workshop 1993 (Louisville, KY)

    • Riverside Community College (Riverside, CA), Psychology major (1989/1990)

    • Peer Counselor at Riverside Poly High (CA) 1985-1987 (after a campus tragedy)

My approach

  • While my toolbox and training includes CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) my approach tends to be more holistic and is geared to the needs of each client. I collaborate with you, to see what might be most supportive for your growth.

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based modality that can be deeply healing. The IFS model offers a clear, non-pathologizing, and empowering method of understanding emotional suffering, as well as an innovative practice that utilizes somatic (body) awareness and allows one the possibility of experiencing inner shifts, self empowerment, and even transformation.

  • I create a safe space for you to explore your inner world and any blocks getting in your way.

  • Checking my privilege and understanding oppressive structures is an ongoing commitment.

  • I ask that you bring a sense of curiosity to explore what’s most urgent for you, to help you create a more fulfilling life for yourself.

  • Humility, humor, curiosity, and relational engagement are key aspects of my natural style and my values.

Details about my practice

  • I offer online video calls for adults (for individual counseling or coaching sessions).

  • My counseling license is in Massachusetts.

  • I accept Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Tufts, Harvard Pilgrim (Point32 Healthcare), and AETNA insurance plans for Psychotherapy appointments for clients who are in Massachusetts.

  • Coaching sessions cannot be billed to insurance.

  • As a board certified life coach, I do coaching work with people all over the world.

  • My name is pronounced BRY-uh-nee. I use she/her pronouns.

  • See “About” above to learn more……..

 

Perch Pond in Benson, VT

"We become what we practice and we are always practicing something." - Alta Starr

2026 fees:

60 minute Intake, first session $190

53-60 minute therapy session $175

40-60 minute Coaching session $175

75-90 minute Coaching session $210

(INSURANCE REIMBURSES THERAPISTS ONLY A FRACTION OF WHAT THERAPISTS’ CHARGE)

I offer sliding scale fees for private pay clients who cannot afford my full rate and who are not submitting bills to their insurance (for reimbursement).

I accept Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim (Point32 Healthcare), and AETNA insurance plans for Psychotherapy appointments (for clients in Massachusetts).

If your insurance is not listed, you may be able to submit a claim for reimbursement to your health insurance carrier, if you have behavioral health and out of network benefits.

I recommend that you contact your insurance company to verify coverage and out of network benefits.

Coaching sessions are not covered by insurance.

“Transmission of trauma begins at the interpersonal level (i.e., from a parent to their child), and expands to the intergenerational level (i.e., a generation of parents to a generation of children), thus impacting an entire group or culture.”

-Dr. Jennifer Mullan, Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression & Historical Trauma