Meet Andrea Hindes, Ph.D.

My work is deeply informed by insight-oriented principles. I help clients slow down and take a closer look at the patterns in their thinking, emotions, and behaviors—especially those that feel automatic or difficult to change. Gaining insight into the origins and purposes of these patterns often makes room for more conscious choices and opens the door to lasting change.

This approach often involves exploring the links between past and present: How did your early experiences shape your sense of self? What messages did you internalize about your worth, needs, or emotions? What dynamics might you be repeating in your relationships today?

Insight is not about blame or “dwelling” on the past—it’s about making meaning of your experiences in a way that helps you feel more empowered and intentional in your present life.

Alongside insight, I incorporate acceptance-based approaches that help clients work with, rather than against, their internal experiences. Many people come to therapy with strong ideas about how they “should” think or feel—and judge themselves harshly when they fall short. Acceptance-based work involves learning to relate to yourself with greater compassion and curiosity.

This might mean recognizing painful emotions—like fear, sadness, or anger—not as problems to be eliminated, but as signals to be understood. Rather than trying to control or avoid certain emotions, we focus on increasing your ability to tolerate and respond to them more flexibly. This can help reduce reactivity and make space for more values-aligned choices.

By accepting what is, rather than constantly striving for what “should” be, people often find themselves more capable of creating meaningful and lasting change.

I view people not in isolation but as part of larger systems that can have profound and long-lasting effects.  Families-of-origin, in particular, are typically our earliest and most powerful source of learning about ourselves, others, and the world around us. Through daily, often subtle interactions, families shape our beliefs about who we are, what emotions are acceptable to express, how we should relate to others, what to expect from these relationships, and what roles we are expected to play (e.g., the helper, the peacekeeper, the scapegoat).

These roles and rules are often unspoken and reinforced over time. Because these patterns are so subtle yet ingrained, they can be difficult to recognize and change—even for the most self-aware person. In therapy, I help clients explore the ongoing impact of these early systems on their present-day lives. We may focus on patterns of communication, experiencing and expressing emotions, and taking on roles passed down through generations and make links to your current day functioning.  In some cases, we may use tools such as genograms (family trees that map relationship dynamics) to illustrate these patterns on paper to help you view yourself in context.   

In line with relational therapy, I believe that many of the difficulties people face are interpersonal in nature. As suggested above, our sense of self is shaped through relationships, and healing also happens within the context of relationships—including the therapeutic one. I place a strong emphasis on creating a safe, collaborative, and nonjudgmental space where clients feel seen, heard, and understood.

In therapy, as part of helping clients to learn about their approaches to people, I invite clients to explore their reactions to me, the therapy process, and the therapeutic relationship itself. This includes noticing assumptions they may make about what I’m thinking or feeling, or how they imagine I’m responding to them. In turn, I may share some of my own responses (within appropriate therapeutic boundaries) to help clients gain insight into the relational dynamics they may experience outside of therapy. In this way, therapy becomes a “real-time” opportunity to examine and shift interaction patterns.

Relational work is especially valuable in helping people practice new ways of connecting, setting boundaries, expressing needs, or tolerating discomfort within a supportive environment.