David Helfand, PsyD - Expert

I believe that everyone deserves the best chance at living a happy, fulfilling, and peaceful life. After years of working in mental health, I started realizing that working holistically and ideally intensively with people often produced the most significant changes. Understanding the full experience of my clients has allowed me to provide better service and ultimately help them achieve their goals more efficiently. I am passionate about the work I do, and I want every client to receive outstanding support.

I work with individuals, couples, and families to help them break their negative cycles and create positive change by fixing the root cause of the issues. Most couples are stuck in these cycles because they need to learn how to connect with one another, reflect on how to improve self awareness and regulation, and compassionately redirect each other. My style of therapy is to provide insight and education so that clients who are motivated to heal and move forward in a postiive direction with their lives have the understanding and tools to accomplish their goals.

During my enrollment at the University of Vermont, I began attending a weekly community mindfulness group led by volunteers on campus. The university also offered an introductory course on yoga, which I completed and then created an independent study to continue my education. I attended my first of several 10-day meditation retreats during this time which became a turning point in my personal meditation and reflection practice. Ten days in silence can often have that effect. Upon returning from the retreat, I was given the opportunity to lead one of the community meditation groups that I had been attending now for over one year. I became the first student volunteer in the program. Around the same time, I found a Kripalu Yoga Instructor, and I immediately appreciated the blend of mindful movement and strength building in this yoga style. In my senior year of college, I created another independent study this time focused on neurofeedback. While engaged in my own neurofeedback treatment, I noticed my alcohol consumption began to decrease, which was unusual for someone who just turned 21. After discussing the phenomenon with my mentor, we concluded that alcohol was a form of self-medication, and since my brain was becoming more balanced, it no longer needed the chemical induced relaxation.

After college, I moved to Massachusetts in hopes of furthering my career in psychology and mental health. During this time, I became a certified Kripalu yoga instructor. I founded Conscious Being Yoga and provided private yoga retreats and classes in my students’ homes or offices. While growing the new yoga business, I was also working with families in their homes providing therapeutic and psychological services. It soon became apparent that in order to really help people, I would need to push my education even farther, so I applied to graduate schools and was accepted into the doctoral program at William James College (formerly known as The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology).

My graduate studies were mostly in health and clinical psychology, and I completed my dissertation on the therapeutic relationship during neurofeedback treatment. During graduate school, I also became certified in neurofeedback and worked as a technician in an office for over three years honing my craft. After graduation, I started a neurofeedback program within a group practice in Beverly, Massachusetts. I grew the business for a couple of years until I decided that it was time to start my own business once again. I founded LifeWise, LLC to finally bring my vision of care to those in need. It has been an amazing journey of self-exploration, being of service to others, and finding balance with a growing family.

I offer every new client a free phone consultation to make sure I can help and that you feel comfortable with my style and approach.