Framingham Counseling & Healing Therapies  ·  Westborough, MA

Dr. Stacey R. Kohler, DSW, LICSW

A warm, grounded listener with nearly 30 years of clinical experience, who provides both deep support and concrete techniques for coping.

Telehealth Available
Dr. Stacey R. Kohler, DSW, LICSW

"You don't have to have it all figured out to reach out. You just have to take one small step — and I'll meet you there."

Maybe you've just received a frightening diagnosis. Maybe you're exhausted from caring for someone you love. Maybe grief has settled in and you can't quite shake it. Maybe anxiety has been running the show for so long you've forgotten what calm feels like. Or maybe you simply know something needs to change — and you're not sure where to start.

Whatever brought you here, I want you to know: you are in the right place. I'm not here to hand you a workbook and send you on your way. I'm here to sit with you — really listen — and help you find your footing, at your own pace, in your own way.

I bring nearly 30 years of clinical experience to this work — including 27 years at Lahey Hospital Medical Center, where I walked alongside patients and families through some of the hardest moments a person can face. I know what serious illness looks like up close. I know what caregiving costs. And I know that healing is possible, even when it doesn't feel that way yet.

Not sure if this is the right fit? That's okay. Reach out anyway — staceykohlerlicsw@yahoo.com

What Working With Me Feels Like

🌿
A Calm, Safe Space
Sessions are warm, unhurried, and judgment-free. You set the pace. There is no pressure to perform or have the right answers.
🛠️
Real, Practical Tools
You'll leave sessions with tools you can actually use — grounding techniques, calming strategies, ways to talk to yourself with more compassion and less criticism.
💛
Integrative & Personal
No rigid protocols. No one-size-fits-all model. Your treatment is built around you — your story, your strengths, your pace.
🌸
You Matter Too
Especially for caregivers — we make space for you, not just the people you are holding up. Your wellbeing is not optional.

Insurance Accepted

Medicare · Medicaid · BCBS MA · Harvard Pilgrim · Tufts · Carelon · Cigna

Telehealth

Available via secure video

Location

45 Lyman Street, Suite 19
Westborough, MA 01581

Get in Touch

staceykohlerlicsw@yahoo.com

Are you a medical professional or referring colleague?

About Dr. Kohler

Dr. Stacey R. Kohler, DSW, LICSW

A warm, grounded listener  ·  Nearly 30 Years of Clinical Experience

Dr. Stacey R. Kohler, DSW, LICSW

Dr. Stacey R. Kohler

DSW, LICSW

Framingham Counseling & Healing Therapies
45 Lyman Street, Suite 19
Westborough, MA 01581

staceykohlerlicsw@yahoo.com

A Personal Introduction

"I have been described as warm and grounded — and honestly, that is the best compliment I could receive as a therapist."

I came to this work with nearly 30 years of clinical experience, a deep respect for the whole person, and a genuine belief that real healing rarely fits neatly into a protocol. I am not here to hand you a workbook and send you on your way. I am here to sit with you — really listen — and help you find your footing, at your own pace, in your own way.

I am a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and a Doctor of Social Work, and I spent 27 years at Lahey Hospital Medical Center — one of New England's premier academic medical centers. I worked in the Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine Department, provided crisis response, and walked alongside patients through some of the most profound and difficult moments of their lives: ALS diagnoses, end-stage COPD, dialysis, ICU stays, end-of-life care, and so much more. That experience shaped who I am as a clinician — not just what I know, but how I sit with people in pain.

I am also a caregiver for autistic adults in my own family. That lived experience is not separate from my clinical work — it is woven through it. It is why I created the Flourishing podcast, why I pursued my DSW, and why caregivers hold such a special place in my heart.

Whatever brought you here — whether you are struggling, searching, grieving, or simply exhausted — I want you to know that you do not have to figure it out alone. I am here, and I am glad you found your way to this page.

Credentials & Training

Formal Credentials

Doctoral Degree
Doctor of Social Work (DSW)
Simmons University School of Social Work
Licensure
Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Advanced Hypnotherapy
Private Intensive Training
Dr. Daniel P. Brown, PhD (2006–2009)
EMDR
Clinical Consultation
Jocelyn Barnett, LICSW (2014–2023)
Reiki
Reiki Master Certification
Insurance Accepted
Medicare · Medicaid · BCBS MA
Harvard Pilgrim · Tufts · Carelon · Cigna

Career Timeline

1990s – Present
Nearly 30 Years in Clinical Practice
Hospital-based and private practice social work across medical, psychiatric, and community settings.
27 Years · Lahey Hospital
Lahey Hospital Medical Center
Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine, Crisis Response, Outpatient, ALS/MDA, COPD, Dialysis, ICU, ED, End-of-Life Care.
2006 – 2009
Advanced Hypnotherapy Training
Private intensive training with Dr. Daniel P. Brown, PhD — one of the world's leading hypnotherapy and trauma experts.
2014 – 2023
EMDR Clinical Consultation
Nine years of advanced EMDR consultation with Jocelyn Barnett, LICSW.
2024 – 2025
Doctor of Social Work — Simmons University
DSW conferred. Capstone: Flourishing: Caregiving Autistic Adults — addressing the service cliff at age 22.

Clinical Experience

For 27 years at Lahey Hospital Medical Center, I worked at the intersection of medicine and the human soul. I served patients in the Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine Department, provided crisis response, and worked extensively across outpatient services, the ALS/MDA clinic, COPD, cognitive memory disorders, dialysis, the ICU, the emergency department, and end-of-life care.

I know what it is like to sit with someone who has just been told they have ALS. I know the particular grief of a family watching their mother disappear into Alzheimer's. I know the exhaustion of a caregiver who has not slept properly in months. These are not abstractions to me — they are faces and names and stories I carry with me.

In private practice, I bring all of that experience to bear — along with my advanced training in EMDR and hypnotherapy — to offer something rare: a therapist who truly understands the world of medical illness, serious diagnosis, and the long work of caregiving.

"I believe deeply in continuing to grow, because my patients deserve a therapist who never stops learning."

Scholarship & Contributions

My doctoral capstone at Simmons University examined the profound service cliff that autistic individuals and their families face at age 22 — the moment when federally mandated school-based supports end, and families are largely left to navigate complex adult systems alone. That research gave rise to the Flourishing podcast.

I have also written on Alzheimer's disease, ALS, and Parkinson's disease from a clinical social work perspective — bringing both scholarly rigor and the lived humanity of someone who has sat beside patients living these diagnoses.

DSW Training Framework · Simmons University
DEIPAR-Informed Practice

My doctoral training at Simmons University School of Social Work was grounded in the DEIPAR framework — Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Positionality, Anti-Racism, and social justice practice (Dyer & Gushwa, 2024). This framework shapes how I understand power, privilege, and systemic inequity as they intersect with mental health, caregiving, and clinical relationships.

In practice, DEIPAR means I approach every clinical relationship with deep attentiveness to positionality — my own and my client's — and with a commitment to anti-oppressive, anti-racist care. I do not treat identity as incidental to therapeutic work; I recognize it as central to how people experience both distress and healing.

This framework also informed my DSW capstone on maternal caregivers of autistic adults — examining not only the service cliff at age 22, but the structural and systemic barriers that fall disproportionately on caregivers who are already marginalized by race, class, disability, and gender.

Podcast
Flourishing: Caregiving Autistic Adults

A resource for caregivers navigating the service cliff at age 22. Grounded in clinical expertise, lived experience, and genuine care for families doing this work largely alone.

🎧  Listen on Buzzsprout
Clinical Writings

Earlier clinical writings on Alzheimer's disease, ALS, and Parkinson's disease — drawing on both scholarly literature and nearly 30 years of hospital-based practice.

Clinical Services

What I Offer

Integrative · Evidence-Based · Deeply Experienced

Dr. Kohler is an integrative therapist — not a protocol-driven clinician. While CBT-informed, she does not follow a rigid 12-session CBT model. Her approach weaves together nearly 30 years of medical social work experience, advanced training in EMDR under Jocelyn Barnett, LICSW, and intensive hypnotherapy training with Dr. Daniel P. Brown, PhD, alongside DBT, mindfulness, and strengths-based narrative therapy. Each treatment plan is tailored to the whole person — their history, their body, their strengths, and their goals. She has particular expertise in coping with medical illness, chronic conditions, caregiving, and the complex emotional world of autistic adults and their families.

Specialized Modalities

🧠
EMDR Therapy
Evidence-based trauma treatment using bilateral stimulation to process and resolve distressing memories. Particularly effective for PTSD, complex trauma, anxiety, phobias, and grief. Dr. Kohler received clinical consultation with Jocelyn Barnett, LICSW, from 2014–2023.
🌿
Advanced Hypnotherapy
Following a private 3-year intensive training with Dr. Daniel P. Brown, PhD — one of the most respected hypnotherapy and dissociation experts in the world — Dr. Kohler applies clinical hypnotherapy for trauma, chronic pain, anxiety, and performance.
💙
Trauma & PTSD
Comprehensive, integrative trauma treatment. Dr. Kohler's hospital background — working with ALS patients, ICU survivors, end-of-life care — means she understands trauma across the full arc of human experience.
🌀
Integrative Psychotherapy
Dr. Kohler is an integrative therapist — not a protocol-driven clinician. While CBT-informed, she does not follow a fixed 12-session CBT model. Instead, she draws on 30 years of medical social work, EMDR, advanced hypnotherapy, DBT, mindfulness, and strengths-based narrative therapy, weaving them together based on each individual's needs and story.
🏥
Medical & Serious Illness
27 years at Lahey Hospital Medical Center bring unmatched expertise in supporting patients with ALS, MDA, COPD, dialysis, ICU recovery, cognitive decline, and life-limiting illness.
🕊️
Grief & Bereavement
Compassionate, clinically sophisticated grief support — including anticipatory grief, sudden loss, complicated grief, and caregiver bereavement.
🌀
Anxiety & Depression
Integrated treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, and mood challenges. Dr. Kohler tailors her approach to the whole person — not just the diagnosis.
🧩
Autism & Caregiver Support
Clinical support for autistic adults and their caregivers, grounded in neurodiversity-affirming practice and lived experience as a caregiver of autistic adults.
⚡
Reiki & Integrative Healing
As a certified Reiki Master, Dr. Kohler integrates energy healing into a holistic clinical approach — honoring mind, body, and spirit alongside evidence-based psychotherapy.

Accepted Insurance

Medicare · Medicaid · BCBS MA · Harvard Pilgrim · Tufts · Carelon · Cigna

Telehealth

Available via secure video

In-Person

45 Lyman Street, Suite 19
Westborough, MA 01581

Session Type

Individual adults & older adolescents

Patient Resources

Conditions, Support & Resources

Trusted information for patients, families & caregivers

Below you will find plain-language descriptions of conditions I have worked with throughout my nearly 30-year clinical career, along with trusted national resources and support groups. Use the filters to find what is most relevant to you or your loved one.

Feeling overwhelmed by what you're reading? That's okay — you don't have to navigate this alone. I am happy to help you make sense of these resources and find the right support for your situation. Reach out directly anytime.

Neurological
ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
A progressive disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, gradually limiting movement, speech, and breathing. I worked extensively in the ALS/MDA clinic at Lahey Hospital. Emotional support, advance care planning, and caregiver respite are central concerns.
→ ALS Association — als.org → MDA Support Groups → Caregiver Action Network
Neurological
Alzheimer's & Dementia
A progressive brain disorder affecting memory, thinking, and behavior. Grief, identity loss, and caregiver burnout are common emotional challenges. I have written on Alzheimer's from both clinical and scholarly perspectives.
→ Alzheimer's Association — alz.org → ALZ Connected Support Groups → Family Caregiver Alliance
Neurological
Parkinson's Disease
A brain disorder affecting movement and, over time, cognition and mood. Depression and anxiety are common and often undertreated. Social connection and counseling are key supports. I have written on Parkinson's from a clinical social work perspective.
→ Parkinson's Foundation — parkinson.org → Davis Phinney Foundation → PD Support Group Finder
Respiratory
COPD
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease causes persistent breathing difficulty. Anxiety, depression, and social isolation are very common. I worked with COPD patients throughout my years at Lahey Hospital. Counseling and peer support significantly improve quality of life.
→ COPD Foundation — copdfoundation.org → Better Breathers Club (ALA) → COPD360social Online Community
Renal
Dialysis & Kidney Disease
Dialysis is a life-sustaining treatment requiring significant lifestyle adjustment. Fatigue, grief, and financial stress are common. Social workers play a central role in dialysis care teams — a role I carried out directly at Lahey Hospital Medical Center.
→ American Kidney Fund — kidneyfund.org → National Kidney Foundation → DaVita Kidney Care Support
Serious Illness
End-of-Life Care
The end of life is one of the most profound human experiences — for the person dying and for those who love them. Counseling, advance care planning, and spiritual support can bring clarity, connection, and peace. This is an area I hold with deep respect and care.
→ National Hospice & Palliative Care Org. → CaringInfo — advance care planning → Aging with Dignity — Five Wishes
Serious Illness
Palliative Care
Palliative care focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life at any stage of serious illness — not just at the end. It addresses pain, emotional distress, and family needs alongside medical treatment. You do not have to be dying to benefit from palliative care.
→ GetPalliativeCare.org → Center to Advance Palliative Care → NHPCO Patient & Family Resources
Caregiving
Caregiver Burnout & Support
Caregiving for a loved one with serious illness is one of the most demanding roles a person can take on. Respite, peer support, and individual counseling help caregivers sustain themselves. Your wellbeing is not optional — it is essential.
→ Caregiver Action Network → Family Caregiver Alliance → AARP Caregiver Support
Caregiving
Caregiving Autistic Adults
Families face a significant service cliff at age 22 when school-based supports end. Navigating adult services, housing, and employment is complex and often isolating for caregivers. This is the focus of my DSW capstone and my podcast, Flourishing.
→ AANE — aane.org → Autism Society of America → Flourishing Podcast — Dr. Kohler's resource
Mental Health
Grief & Bereavement
Grief is not a problem to be solved — it is a natural response to loss. Counseling, peer support, and time all play a role. Support groups can be especially powerful for those who feel alone in their sorrow.
→ GriefShare — griefshare.org → The Dougy Center → NAMI Grief Support
Mental Health
Traumatic Grief & Sudden Loss
When loss is sudden, unexpected, or violent, grief can feel overwhelming and disorienting in ways that differ from anticipated loss. Trauma-informed support is often needed alongside traditional grief counseling — this is where my EMDR and hypnotherapy training become especially relevant.
→ TAPS — Tragedy Assistance Program → American Foundation for Suicide Prevention → The Dougy Center
Mental Health
Anxiety & Depression
Both are among the most common responses to serious illness, caregiving, and loss — and among the most treatable. Therapy, peer connection, and self-compassion all make a real difference. You do not have to white-knuckle your way through this.
→ NAMI — nami.org → Mental Health America → 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

A note from Dr. Kohler

These resources are a starting point — not a substitute for personalized care. Many of these conditions are ones I have walked alongside patients and families through for nearly 30 years. If you are unsure where to begin, or if you would simply like to talk, please reach out directly. Helping you find the right support is part of what I do.  staceykohlerlicsw@yahoo.com

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Practice Information

📍
Address Framingham Counseling & Healing Therapies
45 Lyman Street, Suite 19
Westborough, MA 01581
📞
Phone (508) 572-9225
📧
Email staceykohlerlicsw@yahoo.com
💻
Telehealth Available via secure video
🏥
Insurance Accepted Medicare · Medicaid · BCBS MA · Harvard Pilgrim · Tufts · Carelon · Cigna
🎙️
Podcast Flourishing: Caregiving Autistic Adults

A Note to Referring Colleagues

With nearly 30 years of clinical experience — including 27 years at Lahey Hospital Medical Center — Dr. Kohler is an exceptional resource for clinicians seeking a skilled, experienced therapist for complex cases.

She has particular depth with patients navigating psychiatric crisis, ALS, MDA, COPD, dialysis, ICU recovery, end-of-life adjustment, and grief — and brings advanced specialty training in EMDR and hypnotherapy that few private practitioners can offer. Her background in the Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine Department and crisis response at Lahey means she is equally comfortable with acute psychiatric presentations and complex medical cases.

Dr. Kohler welcomes collaborative relationships with medical teams, ALS clinic social workers, palliative care providers, and hospital discharge planners. Please feel free to reach out directly to discuss a referral.

Email Dr. Kohler