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Harborside Psych

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Therapy for Chelmsford, MA

Chelmsford runs on full calendars. Parents are shuttling kids between travel soccer and homework, commuters are on 495 or the commuter rail into Boston before a therapy appointment would ever fit into a lunch break, and a lot of households are quietly managing more than one person’s care at once. Therapy at Harborside is built around that reality: a licensed clinician works with you to choose an approach that fits the person in front of them, not a fixed protocol, and sessions happen by video on a schedule that can survive a week that does not go as planned.

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Therapy for people in Chelmsford, MA

A lot of the people who reach out from Chelmsford fall into one of two groups. There are parents researching care for a teenager who is struggling, trying to understand what therapy would actually involve before they mention it to their kid. And there are adults, often professionals with demanding jobs, who have been putting off their own care because getting to an appointment during business hours felt like one more thing to schedule around everything else.

Neither group needs a sales pitch. They need a clear sense of how the work happens, who does it, and what it costs before anyone books anything. That is what the rest of this page covers.

How telehealth care actually works

Harborside Psychiatrics is based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and delivers care by video to people across the state, including Chelmsford. You do not travel anywhere. Sessions happen over a secure video platform from wherever you have privacy and a stable internet connection, whether that is a home office, a parked car after work, or a bedroom with the door closed after the kids are asleep.

All you need is a phone, tablet, or computer with a camera and a reasonably steady connection. A typical therapy session runs about 45 to 50 minutes. How often you meet depends on what you and your clinician decide together, usually weekly or every other week at the start, adjusted from there. If medication is part of your care, prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy of your choice in Chelmsford or wherever is most convenient, and follow-up appointments for medication management are typically shorter and less frequent than therapy sessions.

What we treat

Therapy at Harborside addresses a range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, mood changes, stress connected to work or family life, disordered eating, and the kind of adjustment difficulties that come with a major life change, whether that is a teenager navigating high school pressure or an adult managing a demanding career. Some clients come in with a clear diagnosis already in hand. Others come in only knowing that something feels off and want help figuring out what is going on. Both are reasonable starting points.

What the first appointment involves

The first appointment is mostly about understanding your situation. Your clinician will ask about what brought you in, your history, and what you are hoping care will look like. There is no obligation to have language ready for everything you are feeling. Part of the appointment is figuring out, together, whether therapy alone fits or whether it makes sense to also involve one of Harborside’s prescribers for a medication evaluation. From there, you and your clinician set a plan for how often to meet and what the early sessions will focus on.

Who our clinicians are

Medication management and functional psychiatry at Harborside are performed by psychiatric nurse practitioners: Rachel Egan, RN PMHNP-BC, who is also the clinical director, Emily Pardue, RN PMHNP-BC, and Kirstin Ritchie, RN PMHNP-BC. Each is qualified to evaluate, diagnose, and prescribe for mental health conditions. Full bios and credentials for each of them are on the team page.

Therapy and eating disorder work are delivered by the licensed therapy team: Hannah Legesse, LICSW, Tori Mahoney, LMHC, Jacquelyn Duford, LCMHC ATR, and Lexie Carchedi, LCSW. Jacquelyn is also a registered art therapist. Clients are matched with a clinician based on what they need, not assigned by default, and that match can be revisited if it is not the right fit.

What it costs

Harborside is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly for appointments. Current fees for an initial appointment and for follow-up appointments are listed on the pricing page. If you have questions about cost, you can ask them before anything is booked.

Getting started

If you are ready to move forward, you can request an appointment online. Someone from Harborside will confirm scheduling and answer any logistical questions, including how the first video session will work and what to have ready. There is no requirement to know exactly what kind of care you need before that first call. Figuring that out together is part of the process.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is therapy with Harborside the same as seeing a psychiatrist?

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. Harborside Psychiatrics does not provide emergency or after-hours care.

This page is educational and does not constitute medical advice. It does not create a provider-patient relationship. For guidance on when to seek professional support for anxiety or depression, see [CITATION: National Institute of Mental Health page on when to seek help for anxiety or depression, as a government health authority reference].

Reviewed by Lexie Carchedi, LCSW. Last reviewed: {LAST_REVIEWED}.

Most clients meet weekly or every other week, depending on what’s agreed with the therapist during the first few sessions.

No. Harborside is a private-pay practice. Clients with out-of-network mental health benefits can request a superbill to submit to their insurer for possible reimbursement.

That’s a reasonable place to start. Many clients begin therapy without a specific problem in mind, and the first session is built around figuring that out together.

Yes. Finding the right therapist sometimes takes more than one try, and raising it is a normal part of the process, not something awkward.

No. Therapy is ongoing, scheduled care, not a crisis service. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For crisis support, call or text 988.

If you need help right now

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988. Harborside Psychiatrics does not provide emergency or after-hours care.

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