When I first came to Dr. Rickard, I was caught in a cycle of trying to prove myself to everyone around me. I never felt good enough, no matter what I achieved. She helped me see how much of that was tied to imposter syndrome and the old habit of living for other people's approval. Through our work, I learned how to slow down, listen to my own voice, and measure my life by my own sense of contentment rather than chasing constant validation. It's not about becoming perfect -- it's about finally feeling comfortable in my own skin. For the first time, I'm living for myself, and that has changed everything. read more

I cared deeply for Dr.Rickard.I respect the time we had together and I wish her well. That being stated,in the months since I terminated therapy with her,I have felt brighter,lighter and more at ease with myself and the world. I am more patient overall,less entrenched in my past traumas and more hopeful about my future. I no longer have to combat urges to argue with strangers online. I am not always stuck in the fight/flight/fawn cycle and I don't cry regularly anymore. I struggle less with agitation,feelings of alienation and suicidal thoughts. Two days after I left the therapeutic relationship,I experienced real self-love for the first time in my life. Although I valued her,leaving that situation behind is likely the healthiest,most self-affirming decision I have ever made. read more

I've been seeing Dr. Rickard for over 10 years. I've found her to be nothing but professional, very disciplined, and incredibly dedicated to her profession and to me. The other review here over simplifies the issues brought up and was obviously written by a person in distress. Also, the type of therapy Dr. Rickard specializes in is based on the relationship between the patient and the doctor and uses it as a model to examine relationships with others past and present. So I get why the reviewer called her "narcissistic " but that is a failure to understand the model of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. It feels weird at first to relate everything to the relationship between you and your therapist, but that is intentional in this method, it has nothing to do with the personal psychology of the practitioner, it is the scientific method of this type of therapy. Sometimes I've completely disagreed or dismissed some of the observations or suggestions she's made then later on saw the value in them. Sometimes I get annoyed or angry at her- but that's the exact opportunity to examine why, and I have found a LOT of value in that. I've been to a number of therapists who are (in my opinion) kind of wacky or who are so 'free-form' that it's like just having a friend who I pay to listen to me and take my position on things. Dr. Rickard is disciplined and willing to give hard observations but also shows compassion when I need it. I'm often astonished at her memory of things I've said or dreams I've had years ago. She really, truly listens. She also writes and takes notes during the entire session, I've never experienced someone truly paying attention that much. There have also been times when she has said she was thinking about something she or I said in a previous session and wanted to say that she changed the way she originally thought about it. It was surprising to me originally to know that she thinks about what I've said beyond our sessions even though she has other patients. She is very dedicated. I understand that the other reviewer here is upset, but when I have felt like they did, I brought it up in session. Sure it was awkward, but after working through it with Dr. Rickard I felt a lot better and even closer. It is a very intimate relationship and sometimes I might feel misunderstood or angry, but I've been learning that it's possible to work through that with her and she will listen with an open and self-critical mind (in a good way) and I've been learning to do the same. It's really hard to ponder a position I might disagree with but through working with her, I've found the value in 'trying on' a perspective I don't like and learning from it. Sometimes I don't change my mind, but it's cool to learn how to try to really evaluate something logically that you are emotionally opposed to and make decisions taking both emotion and logic into consideration. The other review is angry, but I think they gave up on the hard stuff. (Also, how could Dr. Rickard address here what the other review says without giving insight into her sessions? I don't even think that would be legal let alone ethical.) Gaining true self awareness is a long, hard, process and having someone who is well trained, educated, and super disciplined is incredibly helpful. Especially because I'm not that disciplined. I trust that she has my best interest in mind and even though it isn't a 'touchy-feely' school of psychotherapy, it has been VERY helpful over these past 10 years. I sure wish it worked faster, but people think that about all therapy. It's hard to find anyone doing this school of therapy and on the American Psychological Assoc. website there's a paper that compares it to other types through a meta-analysis of other studies. It says it takes longer, but is more effective when it comes to lasting change. It's a dry read, but it is scientific and worth reading if you are doing serious research on how to choose a therapist. The paper is called "The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy " by Jonathan Schedler. I wanted to do therapy that worked for the long term, that really helped me get through some hard stuff in my life and not just a quick fix. I feel lucky and grateful to have found Dr. Rickard. read more

I saw Dr. Rickard 3 times a week for 4 years. Things KR regularly said to me in session: -You should be in psychoanalysis for the rest of your life. It's like going to the gym for your mind. Just like it isn't healthy to stop working out or exercising your body. -10 years in analytic therapy is a drop in the bucket. -Sometimes change doesn't happen in analytic therapy for the first 10 years. -It's not a good idea to be in a relationship while you are in analytic therapy. -- I responded "You said people should be in analytic therapy indefinitely, so that means you think people should never be in relationships. That's ridiculous." -- KR: Well if you were starting a relationship at a time when something wasn't coming up in therapy, that would be different. -- Me: "But things are always coming up in therapy." -- KR: That's true. -- Me: "So I should never be in a relationship?" -- KR: Well Freud would say you shouldn't be in a relationship while in analytic therapy. -Freud gave women their minds. -You haven't surrendered to being completely dependent on me/you are resistant to being/unwilling to be completely dependent on me. -I am the only person invested in your growth/a (romantic) partner cannot be invested in your growth. -This is the most important relationship in your life/There's no more important relationship in your life (than me). -Analytic therapy is the only opportunity for real connection. -I am suspiciously absent from your thoughts. You don't talk about how you feel about me, or what you imagine about me. -Your dreams are overly detailed and epic. Your unconscious is throwing up decoys. -It's not a good idea to talk about therapy outside of session to keep the pressure cooker on/maintain the tension. -Try not to tell other people about your dreams in case it reveals unconscious material. -Don't look up things (psychological, psychoanalytic) outside of session. -Looking up things (psychological, psychoanalytic) outside of session means you don't trust me/are suspicious/doubt my credibility. General and recurring issues: When I would call her out on her narcissism, making everything about her in her interpretations, attempts to isolate me, her not wanting me to consult secondary sources on psychoanalysis or psychology, scapegoating or exaggerating my OCD to keep me "sick" (which my ex husband did), etc., as being cultish and similar to my ex husband, she would say that I was being suspicious or paranoid. She got mad at me and when I asked her why she was angry she said it was because I had compared her to a cult leader. When I talked about sadness about my divorce or my cat's death, she would say those things were about her. Whenever I talked about cats she said it was about her because her name is Kathryn, which seemed very convenient because I generally have a favorable opinion of cats, having loved cats since I was 4 or 5 years old. She often chose the most positive representations of herself when interpreting my dreams and unconscious material with conclusions like: -- "you have a deep hunger for me," -- "you feel that I am competent," -- "you feel that I am a mature woman," -- "you feel that I understand you." Whenever I talked about moving out of Vermont, which was infrequent and often speculative because she was quite obvious about not wanting to separate, she would act hurt and say "well that would be a shame." I'd ask why and she'd say "because that would mean we couldn't continue our important work." She would say that I was resistant to having feelings about her because I felt that was a sign of immaturity because she was a woman, and that instead I put my feelings into men. I missed one session in 4 and a half years of therapy with her (2x a week increased to 3x a week soon after I started) and she retaliated by giving me the silent treatment during part of session the next day when I did not elaborate on "how I felt" about missing session (which I had apologized for the previous day). She told me I got one more miss before we would have to terminate therapy. This was our last session because the next day I texted her that I was terminating therapy. When I went on vacation or traveled I would have to keep my regular appointments and call in, or risk termination of therapy. A few times during the pandemic she asked me to drive by her office and wave to her while she came to the window, so that she could see me. She did not think people should get married or have kids, and I could tell if I had gotten married again or had a child while I was seeing her, she would have been extremely judgmental. She was upset that I reconnected with my ex husband at the beginning of the pandemic, and did not tell her (because I knew she would be unhappy about it and I did not want to deal with her judgment) for a while. I stopped talking with her about a lot of things in my life for the above reasons, because I wanted to avoid her judgment, domineering opinions, and rigidity. read more