Hope Blooms: Dr. Reichmann’s Vision and Mission for Wildflower Therapy in Philadelphia, PA
In this week’s blog post, we are excited to take a moment to share the origin and roots of Wildflower Therapy with you. We are a therapy practice in Philadelphia that specializes in eating disorder treatment. As our network and community grow, we want to take a moment to connect with you, to tell you how we started, outline our beliefs and mission, and to talk about how our practice has grown.
Dr. Colleen Reichmann, Wildflower’s founder, shares her personal background and extensive training in the world of eating disorder therapy that led to her desire to start Wildflower Therapy. Dr. Reichmann explains how our team here at Wildflower Therapy takes a unique treatment approach to help clients feel deeply cared for and how we continually strive to provide each of our clients the level of care that makes Wildflower one of the most highly sought-after practices for eating disorder therapy in Philadelphia. So, without further ado:
A Seed of Hope: Dr. Reichmann’s Personal Background and Training With Eating Disorder Therapy
Hello! Dr. Colleen Reichmann here- founder and lead psychologist of Wildflower Therapy! I wanted to jump in for a moment to provide a little insight into how this practice was started. Wildflower Therapy was started, fittingly, with a seed of hope. Hope for a therapy practice that would do things differently. The seed of hope sprung from my-shall we say-complicated past.
You see, I had the benefit of having gone through the experience of eating disorder treatment and also many, many types of therapy. I then went to graduate school, and learned all the therapy things™️. Finally, I pursued training in multiple levels of eating disorder treatment, from inpatient eating disorder units at the hospital level of care, to outpatient disordered eating programming at college counseling centers. I share all of this with you to paint a picture of someone who was absolutely inundated with this world- the world of eating disorder treatment and care. My lens to form this practice was three dimensional- a personal level, an intellectual level, and a training level.
Taking Root: A Unique Treatment Focus
I knew what I liked-deeply interpersonal, feminist-relational, individualized care. But care that also incorporated the researched-based techniques on a truly thoughtful, person-to-person basis. I knew what I had learned- that manualized care is the “gold standard” for all mental health issues, but that the gold standard tends to work for about 30% of people. I knew what I saw- that people in treatment across all levels felt largely unseen, uncared for, and that they were mainly part of a larger political therapy system that operates with a monetary bottom line and not much else.
The Seed Blossoms: Interpersonal, Feminist-Relational, Individualized Eating Disorder Therapy
So, with all of this in mind, I created Wildflower to be a unique type of therapy practice-one that truly works to help clients feel seen, heard, cared for, and even loved. I wanted this practice to operate on that deeply interpersonal (i.e., we are ALL humans first) axis, with individualized care being paramount. I also wanted there to be feminist-relational beams throughout the entire foundation of the practice. This means that systemic environmental issues such as racism, misogyny, and transphobia are issues that are to be invited into the therapy space- no more simply treating the behavioral aspects of eating disorders. Here, we MUST acknowledge and support folks in understanding how our environment and world set people up to struggle deeply in their relationship with food, and in their bodies.
I also, however, still wanted to invite the researched-based techniques into the therapy space, as well- on a truly individualized basis and after thoughtful conversation and brainstorming about what might work best for each client. And finally, I wanted to create a practice where therapists can care deeply for their clients and where clients feel safe and even loved. After all, feeling very cared for by a therapist was a transformative aspect of my own healing way back when!
The Flowers Bloom: Our Wildflower Therapy Team in Philadelphia, PA
Slowly but surely, the practice has expanded. Now, we are a close-knit crew of four therapists, and our Rockstar administrator Erika. Learn more about us here. It is an honor to be one of the most sought after therapist practices for eating disorders in the Philadelphia area. Our team provides therapy to adolescents and adults, and the individualized combination of research-based practices integrated into individualized relational therapy is our bread and butter. We love this work, and we love our clients.
So, How Can Eating Disorder Therapy in Philadelphia Help You?
Our therapists in Pennsylvania would be honored to walk alongside you throughout your eating disorder recovery journey! You can get to know a little bit more about us here and book a free consultation here.
Other Mental Health Services Provided by Wildflower Therapy, Philadelphia, PA
Life is a unique and sometimes messy journey for each of us; we all have our own individual battles to fight. Our therapists know there is no one-size-fits-all approach to any of life’s challenges and because of that, we offer many unique perspectives and approaches to help meet you where you are with our Philadelphia, PA Therapy services.
We offer services for eating disorder therapy, services for anxiety, and depression, and have practitioners who specialize in perinatal mental health , maternal mental health, therapy for college students and athletes. As well as LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy. As you can see, we have something to offer just about anyone in our Philadelphia, PA office. Reaching out is often the most difficult step you can take to improve your mental health. We look forward to partnering with you on this journey!
Coauthored by Dr. Colleen Reichmann, Founder and Erika Muller, Assistant for Wildflower Therapy, LLC
Images via Unsplash